Broken Doll
by Shanee
Summary: AU In 2009, Max escaped, but she was recaptured by Lydecker three years later. Back at Manticore, she was known as the traitor... Deal with angst, torture, child abuse... but hope in the end. MA. Updated.
1. Encounter with an 09er

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author:** Shanee

**Pairing:** M/A eventually

**Rating:** R (difficult themes)

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke.

**Summary:** In 2009, Max escaped with her unit, but she was recaptured by Lydecker three years later. Back at Manticore, she spent the usual 6 months in re-indoctrination and psy-ops, before being re-assigned to another unit. But not wanting the same mistake happen twice and see her being close to her unit, director Backer made her the living image of a traitor. Despised by the trainers, mocked by the guards and hated by the soldiers, little Maxie is no longer the carefree lively girl she was.

**A/N:** I know, another story of Max back at Manticore and where Max is a victim, but I can't help it, I had this idea last night, and now I have the urge to write it. Warning, it will be angst, with mention of suicide and rape. I don't want to offend or upset anyone with the subjects. Do not read if you're sensible or underage.

Positive reviews are welcome.

**BROKEN DOLL**

**Encounter with an 09er**

It has been seven months since the last time Max had said a word. She noticed speaking was pointless in her case. It wasn't like anybody listened to her; in her case speaking was far worse than being punished for being mute. After all, the trainers repeated all the time that she was a liar, a filthy little liar, and her unit mates were the masters to use her words against her. So she had stopped speaking. She didn't see any improvement, but at least, when she was silent, she concentrated better on going away and forgetting the pain.

Her arm was broken, again. She wasn't even sure it was healed from the last time, but that had never refrained them to beat her before, so why now? She didn't raise her head, she knew better than cross their eyes. So she didn't react, not even a murmur of pain. She felt the pain, but she didn't want to give them that satisfaction.

248, her SIC, put the iron bar he used to hit her down and smirked.

"So, traitor, care to explain how you cheated this morning? You made us look like fools."

Max didn't look like she had heard him, and maybe she didn't. She was to busy thinking about the chances of going to the infirmary conscious. She knew it was only the beginning. She was used to it. So she tried her best to withdraw in her mind, to focus only on the footsteps of the guards in the corridor. It was her lullaby. They wouldn't come for a while. They were perfectly aware of what was happening in the dorm, but they didn't care. They had theirs orders. Do not intervene before the life of the traitor was threatened. Threatened, a nice word with an even nicer definition within these walls. Max remembered waking up after a coma at least three times in the last six months and her heart had stopped four other times. Sometimes she wished they hadn't saved her. But no, she was worth several millions dollars, so they always reanimated her and sent her back in her own world of torture. A traitor couldn't complain.

248 dropped the bar against her back. She could hear her ribs crack.

"Answer me, traitor. How do you succeed to arrive first?"

Yes, how? It was the obstacle course, their favorite game to hurt her. There were ponds to drawn her, cliffs to make her fall, cords to strangle her and barbed wires to make her bleed, and no trainers to look away before the end. But this morning Max had run faster than them and had won the course, with a ten minutes record. The trainer had been so surprised that he had congratulated her before remembering she was the traitor.

Max didn't know the answer. She had just run, because she hadn't been sure she would make it alive if she let them catch her. Her ankle was killing her now, but she didn't care, and somehow she was a bit proud of herself. She had made a record with a broken ankle.

She felt her head violently pulled by her hair, courtesy of 504, her CO. Her eyes were blank as always.

"Answer us, bitch!"

She didn't and the fists fell on her. Let the party begin.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

494 was wandering inside the Wyoming facility, his mind full of displeasing thoughts. He had failed his mission. Of his six-members team, only five had returned alive, and he was the only one able to walk without help. It had supposed to be an easy mission; he shouldn't have lost 767. She was only fourteen, for Pete's sake. But a fourteen X5 was a soldier first, and soldiers die on battlefield. He should have saved her.

He knew he wouldn't be blamed for her death. The mission had turned FUBAR from the very beginning and they had been ordered to retreat, but not before 767 had taken a bullet between the eyes. She had been their recon, and they had almost been killed when they had retrieved her corpse from the enemy. Even dead, an X5 was too important and cost too much to be left behind.

Now 511, his SIC, his friend, was on surgery with little hope to be able to walk again, thanks to a bullet in his spine. 427 had a broken knee and a bullet in the shoulder. 606 was on surgery too with the doctors trying to remove two bullets from her stomach and her spleen, and 382 had a smashed foot and a broken hip, because she had thought she would be able to stop a hummer by herself. 494 was mad at her. If 511 hadn't killed the driver, she would be dead.

With his dislocated shoulder and the bullet hole in his left thigh, he was the luckiest, and now that the nurses had released him, he was able to clear his mind or at least try.

He didn't know that place. Till today, he believed that the Seattle facility was the only one still working. He had thought that after the escape of 2009, the Wyoming facility had been removed. So, imagine his surprise when the helicopter had landed here and when he had seen X-series training. But his ignorance was normal, they were just soldiers, they didn't need to know anything else.

Meandering inside a building, 494 quickly recognized the dorms. It was the same as at Seattle. Obviously their architect was lazy enough not to do different plans. He saw the guards and saluted them. They didn't stop him. After all, he was an X5 in an X5 corridor, and he had the right to be here, or nobody had forbidden him yet. He wanted to see them, to see if they were trained differently, and maybe see some twins of his unit mates. Not his, his was an 09er, but they had heard rumors than they were a lot of twins, thanks to the in vitro fertilization. He knew how bad 713 and 289 wanted to have twins, they couldn't stop to talk about the pranks they could do together.

The first door was open and he noticed five X5 playing cards on a bunk in the empty dorm.

"Hi," he said.

"Who are you?" asked a huge (for a teenager) blond guy.

494 smiled. 545 had a twin and he was in front of him.

"I'm 494, and you are 544 or 546?"

"6, and what are you doing here?" The blond grumbled. He was even less affable than 545 and that was something.

"'Wanted to meet some new friends."

"You're 494, 493's twin," said a brown guy with disdain.

"And so?"

"We don't talk to traitor's family."

"Pardon?" 494 was stunned; that was a first.

"You heard us. Move. We don't want you here."

494 laughed. What were their problems? As if he hadn't suffered enough for his brother. It wasn't them who had spent six months in Psy-Ops to be sure it wasn't genetic. But 494 wasn't in his best shape to beat the crap out of them, so he shrugged and left the dorm.

Suddenly he didn't want to befriend the Wyoming X-series anymore. He just wanted to go back to the infirmary and go home with the remainders of his team.

He smelt blood before he heard the punches and cheers. It wasn't his business, but he couldn't help but glance by the aperture in the door. What he saw made his bile rise and a shiver run across his spine.

In the center of the dorm, some X5 were kicking a bloody inanimate body on the floor. The rest of the unit was looking at the show with wide cruel grins.

"My turn," said a girl with blond locks, seizing the iron bar a boy was playing with.

Without hesitation, she threw the rod against what was probably the shoulder of their victim.

In a blur, 494 opened the door and propelled the girl against the wall.

"What do you think you are doing?" he yelled at them.

They all looked astonished at his action.

"Who do you think you are?" said a black girl with anger.

"A soldier. And you what do you think you are? Some beasts? Are you trying to kill him?"

"Trying is the key word. The bitch refused to die."

"That's a girl? But you're crazy. Whatever she did to you, you have no right to beat her like pulp," 494 was furious. He kneed beside the unconscious girl and tried delicately to take her body in his arms.

"Yeah, right. Do you know who she is?"

"Whoever she is is not relevant. Be assured I will notify your trainer of your behavior."

The unit laughed, and their laugh was as cold as hyena's.

"Do that," said the blond-locks girl with a smile. "That's 452, the traitor. He will congratulate us."

Without looking back, 494 left the dorm with the bloody body in his arms. When he passed the guards, they didn't even look at him. 494 could feel his anger rise. She was an 09er, so what? She deserved to die? What was that place? And he thought Seattle was bad…

When he kicked the door of the infirmary open, a nurse had the decency to look at him.

"452?" She wasn't really asking and 494 glared at her. "Call the doctor McKey. Tell him 452 is here, again. She needs a scan and prepare her for the surgery." She told another nurse.

Then she turned towards 494 with a sheepish smile and sighed. "Do you know what happened this time?"

"Other than her unit beats her like pulp with boots, fists and iron bar?"

"The usual, so."

"The usual? That's the usual? She didn't even look human anymore. How can you let that happen?"

"Hey, kid, I'm just a nurse. I'm not the one who orders that." She was cleaning the blood.

494 had to refrain himself to look away. Her brown locks were dark red by blood. Her nose was smashed; he still could see the print of a boot in her face. Her lips were bleeding and the rest of her body quickly became blue, yellow and black.

"Could you look in her medical files for me?" asked the nurse. "I need to know witch ribs were broken last time."

494 did what asked. The file was larger than the Seattle telephone book.

"Oh crap," said the nurse. "Where is McKey? Her right lung is perforated. We need to operate immediately."

The other medical staff arrived and the next minute, they were running towards the surgery.

494 was still looking at the door where they had disappeared a long time ago, when a tiny foxy tawny girl hopped near him.

"Earth to 494. What are you looking at?"

"382, you need to rest."

"I will, when my CO will do the same. You're still injured. And why are you covered in blood?" She sniffed. " Not yours."

"Encounter with an 09er."

"Really? They have one? How is he?"

"She's a she and I dunno. They're crazy here."

"Why? And why are you covered with an 09er's blood? Did she attack you?"

"No, she didn't. They were beating her to death."

382 thought an instant that her CO was joking, until she saw anger and fear in his eyes. She put her hand on his non-injured shoulder.

"How are the others?" he asked her.

"They're okay. 511 will walk again."

"So, let's go home. I don't want us to stay here longer."

**A/N: **So? Love? Hate? Review?


	2. Dear Deck

**Title:** Broken doll

**Pairing:** M/A

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke.

**A/N:** Chapter 2 is up, and it's a sad and hard chapter, I hope it won't disturb anyone.

Yeah, I know I made Lydecker slightly out of character, but I like him that way, so bear it

Thanks for reading and reviewing. It made my day.

**MischievousAngel:** You'll see, but I don't jump years, just months, and yes you'll see more of Alec and unit 8 (I love my own characters).

**djonie**: Thanks a lot. I hope you'll find them interesting too.

**A reader**: Thanks, and yes I know. But it's probably because I love the 'Left behind' series, one of the best "Max at Manticore" fanfics with 'Retrieved' in my opinion. I hope I could do half good as Fayth3, but I'm trying not to do the same thing, even if in both, Max is a victim of abuse. And concerning Max's muteness, you'll see.

**Cyndie**: Thank you. It won't stay sad all the way, but probably angst.

**CandyCentric**: Thank you SO MUCH!!! And yes, I was wondering the same thing, but maybe later. ;-)

Everybody feel free to review. Make me happy.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Dear Deck**

511 was racing his CO and for the first time in two months, the result wasn't predictable. His back was completely healed and 494 had twisted his ankle the week before, so he had a pretty good chance at beating his friend. The line was in sight and he could hear their friends cheer them on. He was two good meters in front of 494, when he heard 819 calling his name.

He quickly glanced at the blonde girl and almost fell when he noticed she was showing him her bra. Bitch!

Almost was the key word, but it was enough for 494 to pass him and cross the line first.

"I win, you lose, you're a loser," sing-sang his CO.

"She cheated," protested 511.

"You really need to fight those hormones, 511."

"I need to get laid."

"Who doesn't?" said the golden-haired 338.

The boys laughed and the girls frowned.

"Pigs," said the oldest girl, a beautiful sixteen year-old Indian American. "How could you want to have sex, in this place? Eew."

"Tell me, 275, it wasn't you who almost raped 221 two weeks ago?" said a grinning 511.

"It wasn't me, it was heat. Pftf, I hate you for reminding me."

"Don't blame yourself," said 382. "It could have been worse."

"It could?"

"Yes, you could have tried to do 511."

The whole unit laughed, except 511 who cursed the witches.

"Hey, who's that?" said the shaggy brown-haired 713, looking at a grey-haired man.

"Where were you? In Siberia? That's Colonel Lydecker, former director of the Wyoming facility," explained 221.

"What is he doing here?" asked the blond alluring 819.

"I dunno. He's the one in charge of the re-capture of the 09ers."

"He looks tired."

"I'd be tired too, and angry, if after being a director, I was just in charge of finding a bunch of kids."

"I heard it was his choice, and he's still powerful," continued 275. "I won't be sorry for him. Besides you know they're not just a bunch of kids. That was unit 2, and he spent three years before he succeeded to find one, just one. And she was the youngest."

"I'll be back. Don't wait for me," said suddenly 494, walking towards the colonel.

"Where are you going?" 511 was alarmed and they all froze when they saw their CO salute the man.

"Permission to speak, Colonel?" said a determined 494.

Surprised, Lydecker nodded at the boy, who was brave enough to talk to him when he was lost in his mind.

"I heard you are the one in charge of the 09ers."

"I am, what's your point soldier?"

"I know it's not my role, and you probably already know, but I feel I have to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Three months ago, after a mission, some soldiers and I spent a day in the Wyoming facility and I had an encounter with 452."

The designation seemed to awake something in the eyes of the old man. Lydecker was suddenly more interested by the boy.

"Continue, 494. What happened?" Did she talk to him about the others? He was 493's twin, she probably thought he was her brother. Maybe that was why the kid was in front of him today, maybe he knew something about Ben.

"Sir, I had to rescue her from her unit and bring her to the infirmary. I know you're probably aware of that. Maybe it's normal. But I had to tell you, sir."

The colonel's face was livid.

"Rescue her? From her unit? What the hell are you talking about?" he yelled, and 494 tried to not flinch. He had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry, sir. I should have said nothing. I should have forgotten that day, I will, sir."

"Are you afraid of me, soldier?"

"Yes, sir," 494 swallowed hard.

"Good. Now, tell me what happened, in details."

"I passed in front of unit 3's dorm and there they were, beating, kicking a body on the floor. I didn't know who she was, so I intervened. She was just a bunch of bloody flesh. They told me she refused to die and I ran with her to the infirmary. She was so beaten I couldn't recognize her, sir. Then I saw her medical files."

"You saw her medical file?"

"Yes, sir. The nurse needed my help. Her file was twice the size of "Peace and War", sir. Then they sent her into surgery, and we had to leave. That's all, sir."

"Thank you, soldier. I didn't know." Lydecker was fuming and dismissed the young soldier.

Backer! What that bastard did to his child? Three months ago. Was little Maxie still alive?

"Did you lose your mind?" asked a furious 382 at 494 when they reached the mess.

"What? What did I do?" he groaned.

"You spoke to Lydecker, you, moron. You want to be sent to Psy-Ops, again?"

"Oh, shut up, 382. He didn't know."

"He didn't know what?" asked 221.

"He didn't know what they did to her."

"Her? Who is her?"

"452."

"494 has a crush on an 09er?" teased 948, the youngest of the unit.

"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON HER! I don't even know her."

"So why the hell do you feel the need to speak to Lydecker about her?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"No thanks… I'm not hungry anymore." With that 494 left the mess, leaving his unit stunned by his so unusual behavior.

"She must be pretty," said 289. "Is she?" he asked 382 and 511.

"I don't know. I never saw her."

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Nurse Philips was looking at the sleeping form. At least she slept now. She shouldn't be here. This wasn't a place for a child. Yes, she knew, they weren't children; they were soldiers. But still, this girl shouldn't be here. She had suffered enough, and she had known the freedom. That was worse.

Her forehead was wet. The poor girl had nightmares. Each night since she had been sent in Psy-Ops again and she had been authorized to sleep. That was the only time when they could hear her, when she was asleep. Her screams were frightening, they were worse than usual. Those kids were tortured but their screams were never as terrific as hers. She had been tortured too, but nurse Philips knew that her Psy-Ops sessions weren't the same torture. They didn't want to break her, they just wanted to brainwash and to re-indoctrinate her. But till now, they were failing. 452 didn't want to be brainwashed and re-indoctrinated, she didn't want to be sent back in her unit. She was ready to spend her life in Psy-Ops if that meant she didn't have to be back.

Nurse Philips felt sorry for the girl. She was malnourished, her body had been broken so often that some bones haven't consolidated correctly and they had to break them again, her skin was a puzzle of scars and even if they would disappear, her mind would always keep the sequel. No wonder why the girl wanted to die.

It has been three weeks since the heat 'incident' and her first attempt to kill herself. Three weeks she had spent in Psy-Ops the day and infirmary the night. She was never alone. They had learnt of their mistakes. One week ago, when the doctor said she could be released from Psy-ops and sent back to her unit, they had found her with three cut arteries. They had almost lost her that day and when they had sent her in Psy-ops again, nurse Philips could have swore that she had seen a sad smile on the girl's face.

"Hey kiddo, be strong. It will get better," she murmured at the sleeping form, before checking out her bonds.

††††††††††††††††††

Colonel Lydecker didn't remember when was the last time he had run that fast. Since the second the helicopter landed, he was running towards the director's apartment. He didn't knock on the door and went directly in Backer's bedroom. He was angry beyond recognition.

"Where is she? Where is 452?"

"Donald? What are you doing here? At 1:13 am," said a sleepy Backer.

"I want to see 452!"

"That's why you wake me up? What's wrong with you? You could have asked anybody."

"Yes, I could, but I have a feeling I will need an explanation of what happens here! So where is she?"

"Infirmary."

"You have ten minutes to join me there!" said Lydecker before storming out of the apartment.

"That doesn't sound good," mumbled Backer.

Nurse Philips froze when she saw the Colonel Lydecker storm into her office.

"Where is 452?" he barked.

"Room 3rd, sir."

He stopped at the view of the sleeping girl fastened to her bed.

"Why is she restrained?"

"For her safety, sir."

"For her what? That's 452 we are speaking of."

"Yes, sir. For her safety. She tried to kill herself twice in three weeks, sir."

"Oh… jeez." Lydecker fell on a chair and took his head in her hand, sighing. "What happened?"

"The first time she cut her arms, after the… heat 'incident' sir."

"Heat incident?"

"Yes, sir."

"Explain."

"She was in heat and she wasn't in isolation. So…"

"So she jumped someone. She wouldn't be the first. Why did she try to kill herself?"

The nurse looked away, she didn't want to think about that day. "I wasn't there, sir. You probably want to talk to her trainer about it."

"I will. What happened the second time?"

"She was released from Psy-Ops."

"And that's a reason to want to die?" Lydecker was skeptic.

"In my opinion, sir, she prefers to die or to be in Psy-Ops than to be sent to her unit."

"They are that bad?"

"Yes sir," she replied without a hesitation.

"How bad?" he asked coldly.

The nurse put Max's file in front of him. "90 percent of her injuries are their marks, sir."

"Oh, god," said Lydecker after some pages. "Where are they? Where are those little… beasts?"

"In their dorm, Deck," said Backer.

"Backer, I hope you have a good explanation, because the Committee will never agree with child abuse."

"She's an example, the perfect one. Thanks to her, they all completely follow the orders."

"What did I do? Why did I leave you in charge? You're sick, Backer. I hope you didn't have any dreams of career, because since now, you haven't one anymore." Lydecker turned towards the nurse. "I want you to prepare 452 for a transfer. I want to see the doctor in charge in ten minutes."

Then he walked towards Backer. "I want the entire unit 3 in Psy-Ops before dawn. I will be the one who decides what will happen to them. Dismissed."

Then he walked inside Max's room and softly stroke her forehead.

"It will be okay, Maxie. I promise."

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N: **So? Love? Hate? Review!


	3. Home?

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing:** M/A eventually

**Rating:** R (warning: violent themes, child abuse, rape...)

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N: **Chapter 3 is up, and I hope you will like it, it's a nicer chapter.

It takes place 7 months after the first chapter.

Thanks for all your reviews, it made my day.

**CandyCentric**: thanks a lot, and I'm glad you like my picture of Deck.

**djonie: **Good guess, and no, you'll see but like you I'm quickly bored with Bitchy Max. Thanks for the compliments.

**Darkphania**: Thanks, and Max is around 14 years old now. She was recaptured around 12, spent 6 months in psy-ops, then at least one year with unit 3.

**Nicki, Domi**, **Vballfanatic**, **acb** and **Chance32**: thanks, that's nice. I will.

So, continue onto the story.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Home?**

Max was in her room, looking out the window to the park below. Her face hadn't the same blank mask anymore, she looked almost appeased and her mouth curved in a tiny smile.

The door opened and a smiling nurse entered her white room.

"Hello, Max, how are you today?"

Max simply nodded and her smile grew a little.

"Do you want to go out for a walk in the garden?"

Her smile grew again.

"Ok, let's go."

Max followed the blond nurse outside and waved when some patients, in majority women in their mid-thirties, saluted her. She was in a Psychiatric Clinic and she had never been in a better place. Weird, isn't it?

She wasn't tortured, she didn't have to see them and she wasn't a soldier anymore. She was just a teenage patient.

She walked to her favorite place, a bench near a pond where a duck and her ducklings were swimming. The nurse sat beside her and started to tell her about the new gossip. When Max chuckled, the nurse wanted to do the victory dance. Max was her special patient and in almost three months she had laughed less than four times, and the last two had happened in the last week.

Lydecker was looking at his child, as he liked to call her. He saw her laugh and he beamed. He knew she was still fragile and broken, but that was an improvement. With all she had had to support, he hadn't been sure she would ever be able to smile again. But she was.

He remembered when he had finished reading her medical file; he had wanted to kill someone so badly that he had almost done it. He hadn't thought it could be worse. He was wrong. Then he had watched some security tapes. To see his child be beaten like a pulp was heartbreaking, but when it had come to the 'heat incident', he had thrown up. No wonder why she had wanted to kill herself after that. 'Incident'… He hated that word. Poor little Maxie.

If he had known what would happen, he would never have sent her back.

Silently he walked towards her bench and sat where the nurse was a second before.

"Good morning, Maxie. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded.

"I brought you another book."

She smiled at him.

"Do you want me to read some pages for you?"

She nodded and looked at the duck family when Lydecker started to read the story of a hobbit named Bilbo.

Lydecker hadn't come back to the Clinic for four days, and by this time, Max had read each of the four books he had brought her twice. She was now playing Monopoly with two other patients.

Doctor Connor and Lydecker were looking at her.

"She still doesn't speak?"

"She does, sometimes when she's asleep."

"What does she say?"

"She talked about some brothers of her, a Zack and a Jack. Sometimes she speaks about Jondy. That's all."

"At least she's able to."

"Yes. She's lucky. I never saw a kid who had had tongue surgery before."

"I would have preferred never see one myself. But she stopped speaking months before they cut it."

"Why did they do that?"

"Because they were some insane, cruel beasts."

They remained silent a moment, staring at Max who won the game and did a victory dance. Both the doctor and the colonel smiled at the sight.

"Bravo Max," said one of the women.

"Thanks Sara," Max replied and smiled. Behind her, the two men froze.

"That's a first," said Connor.

"She trusts Sara."

"Yes, she does. She spent a lot of her time with her."

An enigmatic smile was on the face of Lydecker.

"Do they know?"

"I don't think so."

"So she doesn't speak if she doesn't trust, does she?"

"It seems so."

Lydecker left the doctor and walked towards the teenage girl.

"Hello Max, hello Sara."

"Do I know you? I don't remember you," asked the fearful woman.

"It's okay if you don't remember me, Sara. It's better for your mind. I wasn't a really nice guy to you. Now, if you don't mind, I have to talk with Maxie."

"You won't hurt her, will you?"

"No, I won't. I'm here to help her, to protect her."

"Okay. See you soon Max."

"Bye Sara."

The Latino woman left and Lydecker motioned to Max to follow him.

"So Max, you talk to Sara now?"

Max nodded.

"Do you think you will talk to me one day?"

Max shrugged.

"Do you like Sara?"

Max nodded enthusiastically.

"Do you know why?"

Max bit her lip.

"It's okay. You'll explain to me another day… Did you like the books?"

Max smiled.

"Max, I want you to trust me. I know you probably think I betrayed you, but I swear Max, I didn't know. I never thought that would happen. I truly believed that you would be happier back at Manticore."

Max looked away.

They arrived at her bench.

"Do you still want to die?"

She shook her head.

"But you will if I bring you back there?"

Max looked panicked.

"It's okay, Max, I won't. You will never put a foot there again, I promise. But you have to understand that you can't stay here forever."

Max looked at him with questions in her eyes. She opened her mouth several times before sighing loudly.

"You know why, Max. You're an X5; you're worth too much for them to leave you here. When you are better, I will take you to another facility. But don't stress yourself, you still have time here."

Max still stared at the fishes in the pond.

"Did I tell you how I learnt about you?"

Max shook her head.

"Ben's twin came to alert me of what he had seen months ago, when he had rescued you from your unit."

She looked at him, surprised.

"Of course, they didn't tell you. 494 is from another base, you were lucky he was there that day."

Max shrugged.

"I put some books in your room. I'll be back in two weeks."

She smiled at him and they walked towards the clinic together. Lydecker kissed her on the forehead.

"Bye kiddo."

††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Unit 8 was on the training field and trainer McFee had just dismissed them, when a guard came to say to 494 that Colonel Lydecker was waiting for him in his office.

"What did you do that time?" groaned 382.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"So what does he want?"

"How would I know!"

Since that day four months ago when he had talked to him, the colonel had come twice and each time he had watched them training. They didn't know what he wanted and his interest on 494 and unit 8 made every X5 uneasy.

494 followed the guard; he didn't know that Lydecker had an office here. Renfro was the director of the base, so why would he? Unless it was Renfro's office.

The guard stopped in front of a door, which definitely wasn't Renfro's, and 494 knocked. A male voice ordered him to enter.

Lydecker was drinking his… coffee? tea? Irish coffee? and another person was sat on a chair, back at the door. It had chocolate curled locks, so 494 thought it was probably a girl.

"Ah, 494, perfect."

The girl stood upright at his designation. So she was a soldier.

"I wanted you to meet Max, now that she's conscious and in a better shape than at your last encounter. Max meet 494, your rescuer."

The first surprise was that Lydecker called the soldier by a name and not a designation, and with clear affection in his voice. The second was that she was the girl he had helped months ago and never thought he would see again. The third was that the girl was beautiful, pretty nose he had seen smashed, full pouty lips he had seen bleeding, and a body, well she was dressed but for a teenage girl she was far from the average girl, even for a Manticorian average teenager.

His astonishment didn't fail to be noticed by Lydecker, who suppressed a smile. Max simply bowed to him, a polite smile on the lips.

"494, I read that you lost a member of your unit during a mission seven months ago."

"Yes, sir."

"The former unit of Max doesn't exist anymore and I thought that Max could join your unit. What do you think?"

Fourth surprise in less than ten minutes, Lydecker asked him his opinion.

"I beg you pardon, sir?"

"Yes, what would you say if Max became the eighteenth member of your unit? You're the CO, I want to know your views about it. Would the fact that Max is an 09er be a problem?"

"No, sir."

"No? Are you sure, soldier?"

"Yes, sir."

"Isn't she a traitor?"

At the word traitor, 494 noticed that Max tensed.

"I'm sure, sir, that she had enough seen the walls of Psy-Ops and re-indoctrination to be considered now as a trustful soldier, or she wouldn't be here today, sir."

This time Lydecker didn't try to hide his smile.

"Good answer, soldier. Now, back to my first question. Do you see anything inconvenient about Max joining Unit 8?"

"No, sir."

"Perfect, 494. She will do it immediately." Lydecker turned to look at Max. "Maxie, I think you're in safe hands, but remember, my door will always be open."

"Thank you sir," replied Max in a hoarse voice and she quickly gave him a hug, before stepping back in a perfect soldier stance.

Lydecker laughed at the stupefied 494.

"494, I entrust you with Max, and don't be offended if she doesn't speak. Dismissed, soldiers."

494 left the office, with Max on his heels, and lead her towards their dorm.

"So you have a name?" She quickly nodded. "And Lydecker knows it?" Same nod. "That's weird." She shrugged.

"You really don't speak." She smiled. "That's the dream come true, a mute pretty girl." She rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you're alive," he said suddenly serious.

She stopped and looked at him, then genuinely smiled. She signed 'thank you'.

"Are you mute or something like that?" he asked her nicely.

She shook her head.

"So why don't you talk?"

'The doctor said it's psychological. I need to trust people to be able to talk to them' she signed. 'Usually I don't sign either, but you helped me, so somehow I trust you a little.'

"Nice. I feel special."

She rolled her eyes again and signed 'don't be such a smart-ass.'

"Hey, I was sincere."

'Sure.'

They shared a smile and remained 'silent' for a minute or two, still walking. Then Max patted his shoulder and signed again.

'I wanted to thank you. Deck said you're the one who alerted him.' She looked tense.

"It's okay, Max, you don't have to thank me. It was the normal thing to do."

'You're the only one who did it.' There was sadness in her eyes.

494 quickly brushed his hair away, obviously embarrassed by her gratitude.

"Come on, kid. You're here for an hour and you already endangered my reputation. You need to learn that 494 doesn't care about anything. Comprende?"

Max smiled and nodded.

"Okay, let's face the cats."

494 opened the door of their recreation room and gestured her to enter. At the sight of the newbie, everybody quieted, before 511, 289 and 948 whistled in concert.

"Boys!" groaned 494 and 382 and 467 punched the said boys behind their head.

"Everyone, that's Max."

"Max?" asked 221. "What? No designation?"

"It seems that Max doesn't like her designation and she even had Lydecker call her that. But yes, Max has a designation, she's 452."

"452? Your 452?" said an amused 511.

"511!" 494 warned his friend.

"She's pretty," said 289 with enthusiasm. "I understand your behavior now."

Max couldn't help but chuckle at the obvious embarrassment of her new CO. 494 was red and if looks could kill, at least three soldiers would be dead now.

"Okay, first, she's not MY 452, I think she's her own person, then she wasn't that pretty the last time, and the day when you will understand something 289, I'm afraid Manticore would freeze."

Max smiled at the compliment and the others laughed at 289's face.

"Now that we are clear, I can pursue. Max, here, is our new member. I want you to welcome her as she deserves it and boys, behave."

"Cool," said 382 who rushed to meet Max. "I'm 382 and I'm sure you will be happy with us."

Max smiled at her, and 606, an Asian beauty, came to shake her hand. "I'm 606. You came from the Wyoming base, right?"

Max looked helplessly at 494.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you guys. Max doesn't speak, except with me, but who can stay mute in front of a God as myself."

'Right. Are you sure there is enough room here for the whole unit and your ego?' She signed.

"My ego is fine, thank you Maxie."

'Don't call me Maxie and don't be such a smart-aleck.'

"Why? Are you afraid you can't compete?"

'Oh yes, sure. Like I wouldn't win.'

"That sounds like a challenge, Maxie."

'Stop with the Maxie already.'

"Woo! What was that?" asked 511, stopping their rhetorical battle.

"That was Max challenging me."

'You wish, pretty boy.'

"I like her already," claimed 382. "Okay, so you don't speak. It's okay with me, more time for the stories of my life."

"Oh yeah the great adventures of 382, the foxy redhead of Unit 8. A bestseller."

"Shut up, 289. You're just jealous because I don't talk about you."

"I don't need you to talk about me. One day I'll be famous."

"Sure, Groucho."

Max smiled at the show in front of her. Lydecker was right; unit 8 was everything but her former unit. Maybe she would like it.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N:** So ? Love ? Hate ? Review !

By the way, who found out who Sara was?


	4. Trust

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing:** M/A eventually

**Rating:** R

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N: **Here is chapter 4. I hope you all will like it. There is no drama for once (but don't worry, drama will be back soon), and yes I know there is already a trainer McFee in one (if not several) fics, but think about it as a homage. This story takes place just after the last chapter.

djonie: Ah ah ah, that was the question! We will see more of her in another chapter (chapter 10 or 11 I'm afraid).

MischievousAngel: I love the compliments, so thank you so much. And I'm glad it made you happy.

Darkphania: thanks, but no, Sara is not Hannah. I'm trying to respect the timeline of the show, concerning the other events, so Hannah is probably still working for Manticore and she won't appear in my fic.

Masaia: Thank you, I hope you will like the update. And good guess.

Candyabble: you're not the only one, and I don't think that's a criteria to be called weird .

Tif: brava. You guessed right. I hope you'll like the next chapters, even if we probably won't see a lot of her.

SerafinLatina: thanks. Here is the update.

Okay people, here is the chapter. You know how to make me happy. Press the review button at the end.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Trust**

Trainer McFee was observing unit 8 sparring, and more precisely 452 and 545. They formed a weird pair, the blond boy was already man-built and his bull's strength was his best skill, when the girl was too skinny and looked as if made in glass. 545 didn't seem to know how to fight his tiny opponent; he looked anxious to break her.

McFee was aware they couldn't rival, but he needed her to spar with every member to find out who will be her best match.

"What are you waiting for, soldier?" he barked at 545.

The blond made a sorry face at his adversary and started to attack her. At his surprise, his fists reached emptiness and Max was still bouncing in front of him. Two meters away, the trainer was staring at her, his mouth agape. In ten years of transgenic training, he had never seen a move that fast.

545 tried to punch and kick her several times, but he only managed to strike the air and lost some balance.

"452, stop avoiding fighting. It's spar time, not a dancing session!"

Max looked at the boy in front of her, who was trying to understand why he couldn't touch her, and suddenly, she speeded up. Time to say tic-tac-toe, her leg was curved around his knees, making him drop, and her elbow was pressing a point behind his nape. She disentangled herself from the now unconscious body and looked at the trainer.

"What was that, 452!?" barked her shocked superior.

Max remained still and everyone around was now looking at her and the inert body, disdaining their own fights. Then 545 started to move and woke up, stroking his neck.

"Thanks Max, now I have a Texas size headache," he grumbled, standing up.

She bowed imperceptibly.

"All right, soldiers, back to your own fights. 289, spar with 452."

The tan green-eyed short prankster of the unit jumped in a fight pose with a cocky smile. His smile was no longer there the next minute when Max kneed him in the balls and he fell on the ground.

"Don't fight dirty, 452!" shoot McFee. "221, take his place."

The trainer quickly realized that the newbie didn't know how to fight if she wasn't allowed to do it dirty, and he was already tired to see her bouncing away from each punch. Okay she was really fast, faster than the usual transgenic, but if she continued to avoid fighting, he wouldn't be able to evaluate her.

"Okay, you're allowed to play dirty," he sighed with resignation.

The next thing he knew, 221 was sprawled against the floor, holding his bloody broken nose and cursing the sheepish girl.

The soldier joined his unlucky fellows on the side and McFee called another victim.

"338, on the mat."

"Am I allowed to play dirty too, sir?" asked the blond.

"If you know how, yes."

338 was the first to touch Max's skin, with a vicious kick, but the next second, he was crawling on the floor, Max holding him in a headlock.

"606!"

"713!"

"948!" He was the quickest to meet the floor.

"467!" The blonde playmate cursed Max and her iron grip, staring at her now useless left hand.

"275!" She remained unconscious until the end of the sparring session, but she could be proud to be the one responsible for Max's black eye.

"744!"

"760!" He would sing with a soprano voice for the next days. With 289, he could start a chorus.

"511!" So focused on avoiding a same fate, 511 now had Max's boots prints on his back.

"382!"

"494!"

"819!" She fought with passion, but still left the mat before the four usual minutes.

"427!"

"891!"

Already annoyed to watch them after three minutes, McFee stopped the fighting. Obviously, the dark-skinned 891 could compensate Max's speed with his suppleness, and he didn't fight dirty. On the contrary, the tiny 382 was the perfect dirty match for 452 and he wondered where the redhead had learnt such moves. And concerning 494, he suspected the CO to have played nice against the newbie; he had given up too quickly.

"Okay, for now on, 891 will be 452's sparring partner, and 452 you need to learn how to fight conventionally. Dismissed."

The soldiers quickly made their way to the shower.

"Okay Max, you own us some explanations," groaned 545. "I still have my headache."

"Poor baby," 606 teased, who was stroking her bruised shoulder.

"No seriously Max, what was that show?"

She shrugged and turned to slap 494's arm.

"Hey! What did I do?"

'You fought like a pussy! Do you think I'm that blind that I wouldn't realize you faked it?' She signed quickly.

"Hey, don't mock my fighting abilities."

'Come on! You are the CO, and even 948, who is two years younger than you, was a worthier opponent.'

"Sorry Maxie, but I didn't want to walk like 760 or to sleep like 275. A man has to do what he has to do to protect his dignity."

'Smart-ass.'

"My ass was bruised enough today. So do you want to tell me why you fought like this? I didn't see you use your hands one single time, except for when you crushed 467's fingers, and what's with the dirty moves?"

'Try to spar with all your bones in your hands smashed, broken ribs, broken leg and broken arm. You'll quickly learn how to avoid a punch and end a fight without something else broken.' She tried to look amused, but her smile never reached her eyes. 494 cursed himself for reminding her.

"Okay, shower time."

Max nodded and quickly reached the last stall. She avoided looking at her teammates and tried her best to remain out of sight. She had never showed with her last unit, always managing to go there when they were busy sleeping, but that wasn't the reason for her shyness. She knew she still had some scars on her body she didn't want to run the risk to have to explain. Some scars she wanted to forget, like her acid-burned back or the jaw printed hole on her shoulder.

Unfortunately, she felt a look on her back and saw 382 starring at her, her soap in hand. Noticing the scared look in Max's eyes, 382 gave her a friendly smile and gained her shower back.

Max stayed longer under the shower, letting the hot water relax her tired body. When she left the place, she noticed 382 waiting for her.

"I'm not here to interrogate you. Just know that if you want a friend, an ear, a punching-bag, I'm here."

Max nodded, smiling.

"So, did I tell you about the day when McFee fell, head first in a plate of smashed potatoes?"

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Days later, Max, 382, 494 and 891 were in the gym, in the middle of the night.

494 was dozing against the wall, while 382 and 891 showed Max a move.

"Your turn, Max," said 891.

"Easy with my left arm, Max," 382 warned her when they jumped in their position. "It didn't like your last attempt to detach it from the rest of my body."

"382, you'll speak later. Do that goddamn move. I need my beauty sleep. Not everybody can have your shark DNA."

Max attacked 382, perfectly avoided her move and 382 landed not so graciously on her buttocks.

"Great! Now, I get to go my bed. See you tomorrow girls."

As soon as 891 had left the gym, 382 noticed that Max was glancing at her, chewing her bottom lip with annoyance.

"Something's wrong, Max?"

Taking a deep breath, Max replied hoarsely: "I didn't know you have shark DNA. I have that too."

382 was too astonished to reply immediately.

"Jeez, Max! You can talk… to me. I am flattered. Does that mean you trust me?"

"It seems so," mumbled a nervous Max.

"That's great. But 494 will be really pissed off."

"Why?"

"Because you trusted me before him."

"I trust him."

"You don't talk to him."

"I talk to him."

"Really?"

"Yes. By signs."

"That's not the same."

"I know; that's something special, for him."

"You have a special thing for our CO," 382 teased her. "You know how that sounds?"

"You have a dirty mind, 382."

"I do," she grinned. "But seriously, why do you want to have something special for him?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I feel I have to be thankful for what he did for me, and he's nice."

"Don't repeat that in front of 819, or she will bite."

"Why?"

"Don't tell me you hadn't noticed that she worships the ground our dear CO walks on. She won't like it if you cut the line."

"You're sick. I don't like him like that!"

"Sure?"

"Certain!"

"Okay, I believe you." 382 gave up. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. I'm not used to talking yet…..."

"Yeah, that has to change. Oh, I know, I need a name. Like you."

"What kind of name?"

"No idea. A nice name."

"July? Katie? Sacha?"

"No thanks. What do you think of Foxy?"

"Foxy? You know what that means?"

"Yes, I like it." She grinned.

"Ok, Foxy is it."

"Do you think we could name the others too?"

"Maybe."

"What's for our CO?"

"I already named him… Alec, because he's such a smart-aleck. But shush, he doesn't know."

"Your secret is safe with me. Speaking of him, you would think he was smart enough not to sleep in that position."

"It's his neck, not yours. What do you think about pursuing this discussion in the rec. room? I'm pretty sure I hear the armchairs calling to us."

"Me too, today's training was pretty exhausting."

"Should we wake him?" Max asked, gesturing towards the snoring Alec.

"No, he would bite."

Max and Foxy left the gym, and when the door closed behind them, Alec opened his eyes, a happy smile on the lips. She had named him. That was nice.

†††††††††

The next morning, the members of unit 8 were sitting at their usual table and, as usual, Alec and 511 were late. Noticing Foxy and 891 on each side of Max, Alec put his tray between Max's and 891's. Grumbling that their CO was too selfish to share his toys, which earned him a slap on the head, 891 moved away.

"Thanks for my name," Alec whispered in Max's ear, but not quiet enough not to be heard by Foxy and 289.

Max froze and cursed herself in silence - he hadn't been that deeply asleep after all, and Foxy grinned.

"What name?" asked 289.

"Max and I have thought about giving you names, I'm Foxy and 494 is Alec."

"Foxy? That suits you," said 221 with a flirtatious smile.

"Thanks Sun," replied Foxy with the same grin.

221 had been easy to name, with his blond air, lagoon eyes and tanned skin.

"So, what are our names?" asked an enthusiast 511.

"You don't have one, we couldn't find one proper for you. But 891 is Snake, because he is as supple as one, and 545 is Bull, because is as strong…"

"As one," ended 511 and 891 in concert.

"And 338 is Jason, thanks to the Golden Fleece which cover his head. 427 is CB. 713 is Sprite and 819 is Blondie. And that's all, except if 289 want to keep Troll."

"Hell no! I'm cuter than a troll," he protested. "I prefer Puck."

"At least, it has the right dimensions," teased the brunette baby-faced Sprite.

"And for us?" asked 948.

"You could find your own. I had to stop Max before she named all of you Baby, Kitty, Dummy, Calamity or Sparky," explained Foxy.

"Who would have been Calamity?" asked Sprite.

"606, because of her skill at shooting, like the great Calamity Jane."

"I like it," said the Asian girl. "But I think I rather keep Jane."

"Okay, people. We'll continue this discussion later, we have to be on the training field like… five minutes ago."

In a rush, the soldiers left the mess and ran towards the field.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N: **So? Love? Hate? Review


	5. Step back

**Title:** Broken doll 

**Author:** Shanee

**Pairing:** M/A eventually

**Rating:** R (dark themes as child abuse, suicide and rape)

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N: **Here is chapter 5, the darkest I wrote. It will mention Max's difficult past, so don't read it if you're underage or sensible. I didn't write it to offend anyone.

I hope you will like my characters, and I know Lydecker is still OOC but thats how I want him for this fic, so bear it. ;-)

There is a part inside which is a flashback. I didn't signal it with _italic_ or anything like that, because I think it's pretty obvious that it's a memory. I hope it won't confuse you.

Thanks all for your reviews.

**A reader:** Thanks and I love Kick-ass Max too.

**Djonie:** Good guess. Thank you.

**Vballfanatic:** I loved it too. Thx.

**Candyable:** Drama is here. Thx for the compliments. You need to know that I want a happy-ending. I hope you will like it.

**X9-549:** I'm glad you like it, and thanks for the compliment. Here is the update.

Thanks again to Dezy, my wonderful beta-reader who I made cry with this chapter.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Step back**

Unit 8 was in the forest outside the base. Their goal was to find and steal Unit 10's mascot, while the soldiers of unit 10 have to defend it and neutralize the enemy. Contrary to unit 8, unit 10 had the same amount of girls and boys, and two more soldiers, which gave them a little advantage, despite the claim of unit 8's boys who affirmed they were the best and weren't afraid of 'a bunch of little girls'.

They were 'playing' for three hours now and unit 8 had localized the enemy base and their mascot – a X7 guarded by two girls, and had yet to retrieve him. Their plan was to attack in three fronts, compelling unit 10 to split to protect their base. That was a classic attack, but they hoped to surprise the enemy nonetheless. Unit 10 had been in these woods for three days now and didn't know when to expect the attack. It was the idea of Trainer Hollander, to make them act in the most realistic situation, for Unit 8 to attack a base in an unknown specific localization and for Unit 10 to defend a base susceptible to be attacked anytime.

Unit 8 didn't want any casualties and so far they didn't have any. The group of Biggs, aka 511, was taking the north side and had already restrained their opponents. Sun, Jason, Jane and Sable, aka 275, were attacking by the east face, climbing the straight crag, hoping to surprise the most of the enemies. Which left Alec, Max, Foxy, Sprite, Bull and Os, aka 760, to go by the south, where they were probably expected by the big of unit 10. So far, the plan was going well - they had found the rival recon team and three guys of unit 10 were now covered in paint and waited for the mission to end fifty feet behind - when Alec saw Max stop dead in her tracks, a look of fear in her face.

"What's it, Max?" he whispered.

The girl froze when he looked at her and suddenly she turned around and started to run towards Manticore.

"What happens to her?" Alec was startled. That wasn't Max's usual behavior. Till now, she was the perfect soldier, not the one to turn her back on her unit in a mission.

Sprite shrugged and Alec finally made his mind and motioned to the others to continue. The scared shriek stopped him and he paled. It wasn't a human scream and suddenly, the mission became the last thing in his mind. Max was in trouble.

Without hesitation, Alec turned and sprinted towards the place where the scream had come from, the others not far behind him.

When Alec reached the end of the wood, Max was still, surrounded by five boys, the three they had neutralized previously and two others who had been drawn by her scream. She wasn't moving and an overwhelming smell of fear was emanating from her, with something else beneath. And abruptly Alec understood.

"Os and Bull, step back!" he ordered and the two soldiers obeyed. "Go and bring back the girls, find me 314, unit 10's CO, quickly. We will need her. Go!" The two guys ran in separate directions.

"What is it happening to them?" asked Sprite, showing the five boys who were circling around a petrified Max.

"She's in heat."

"She's terrified," added Foxy with a concerned look.

"They don't look like males confronted to a female in heat."

"No they look ready to kill."

"To eat." The girls looked at their CO with a shocked face. "That's her fear. I feel like I have to attack her but in the same time, I want to protect her."

"We have to do something, they're moving closer," Foxy blurted out.

"It won't be pretty," warned a concerned Alec.

"Can you refrain yourself to attack her?" Sprite asked him.

"I will."

"Let's go," shot Foxy, and the three of us ran towards the group. As soon as they attacked them, the girls went flying across the clearing. The boys didn't react normally, they didn't fight; they just threw them out. They didn't want to be distracted from their prey. Alec, on the other hand, was seen as a treat, and his opponent had a feral and murderous glint in his eyes.

"Guys! Step back!" 314 yelled at her soldiers, but they didn't move, and she charged them with four of her girls and the four last girls of unit 8.

The others boys stayed in the wood, away from Max's smell under the surveillance of the last girls of unit 10.

They were eleven against five, but the result of the battle had never been that uncertain. The five boys were fighting to death and two girls already almost had their necks snapped. They would be dead if Foxy and Sable hadn't freed them from their opponents.

"We need to get Max away," Alec groaned in pain. "Blondie, Jane, Sprite and you two, take her in Iso. Now!"

The girls obeyed but Max wasn't moving, shaking of fear.

"Now!" repeated Alec with desperation, and Sprite knocked Max out before throwing her on her shoulder.

The five girls and an unconscious Max disappeared into the woods, leaving behind five boys in murderous fury, Foxy with a dislocated shoulder and a nasty bitten hand, Alec with a lot of broken bones, Freya, the blond goddess 467, almost scalped, Sable with a carotid half opened, and the three girls of unit 10 not in a better shape. As soon as Max wasn't in sight or smell anymore, the remainders of the two units rushed there to immobilize the five enraged guys.

"What's wrong with you!" yelled a furious and bleeding 314. The five males were still struggling to get free but with three guys each pinning them to the ground, they didn't stand a chance.

"Escort them to the river," Alec ordered the boys, "and oblige them to take a cold bath until they regain theirs senses. The five of you," he motioned to the unharmed girls of Unit 10, "catch up with the girls and make sure that no boys come near them." The girls complied immediately and ran toward Manticore. "Freya, help Sable with her neck, Foxy, help 817 to walk to the infirmary. 314, you need to go there too."

"I have to watch my men," protested the CO of unit 10.

"My SIC is taking care of that. Let's go. You have to let a doctor look at your leg."

Cautious to not harm their wounds anymore, both the COs followed their injured soldiers trough the woods towards Manticore.

"I never saw a heat like that," groaned 314. "Why did the guys not fight for her against themselves? And what's with theirs desires to kill? They acted like some…"

"Hyenas," Foxy cut her off, adding later: "Do we have hyena's DNA?"

"I don't know, but after seeing what I saw today, I wouldn't be surprised," replied Alec.

"But why would hyenas attack a heated female?" wondered 314.

"They didn't react to her heat, or maybe at the start, but it's her fear that drove them crazy. I never saw an X5 that afraid before." Alec said, then darted.

"What are you doing?" yelled 314. "You have a broken knee."

"I need to know if she's okay," he yelled back, still running towards the base. He had to; it overwhelmed him.

Luckily the girls had reached the infirmary and the isolation's cells without any more trouble and when Alec reached them, Max was safe in her cell, lying still unconscious on her bunk.

"Alec, you need to leave," Jane warned him. "Your scent is unnerving the others females."

"Is she okay?" His anxiety radiated from his voice.

"She will be. She's not the one injured. Let's go to the infirmary. Your elbow looks like shit."

"Thanks Jane!" He said sarcastically. "You know the words to make a man feel better, don't you?"

The Asian girl slapped him on the shoulder and made a face when he winced in pain. "Sorry."

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Her fear was submerging her. She knew what would happen if they smelled her. She couldn't let that happen again. She would rather die.

She didn't want to remember. Their looks, they looked like them. She couldn't remember. She had to fight them, but she couldn't. She was too weak. They made her weak.

She walked through the hall, towards the showers. She hadn't been able to take a shower the day before, they had stayed awake so long and when finally they had fallen asleep, it had been past three and the showers had been closed.

Their trainer had made them run for two hours under the too hot sun of August. Max had thought she would die of thirst, and when he had finally released her unit, he had ordered her to continue for another hour. She hoped that the showers were free now; she really needed cold water. She knew her unit was probably in their rec. room, so she walked in front of her dorm without worry.

"But that's the traitor. Where were you, bitch? Planning to escape again?" 526, a girl of her unit was blocking her way and Max noticed that the most of her unit were in their dorm. Her luck…

Max tried to pass the girl, but she grasped her arm and pushed her in the dorm.

"Why do you not reply? Cat got your tongue?" she joked meanly and the rest of the girls laughed cruelly.

"Maybe she want the cat to get it," said 504 their CO, walking toward her, with a weird glint in his eyes, and some males imitated him.

Suddenly it hit her and she rushed towards the hall. The looks in their eyes; she was in heat. But another boy choose that moment to enter the dorm and stopped her with a feral growl. Max looked panicked and the girls burst out laughing, perfectly aware of what was happening in front of them.

"No need to fight, guys," ordered 504. "There will be time for each of us, but I'm the one to take the bitch first." With that he rushed toward Max and pinned her on the wall, violently ripping her clothes while she was trying to escape his grip and fight back.

She kneed him in the balls and darted toward the door, only to be blocked by another male.

"I said, I'll be first!" roared a furious 504, sending the boy across the room and the others guys stepped back, suddenly still. Then he turned to the girls. "526 and 487, immobilize her!" The two girls obeyed quickly and held Max against the wall.

"So bitch, what do you say, now?" The boy walked to her and ripped the last part of her clothes, which still covered her; her underwear. "Move!" he ordered the girls. With a hand he blocked Max's arms above her head, blocking her attempt to escape him with his strong thighs against her hips, and with the other he quickly unlashed his pants.

The only thing Max could think when the fear overwhelmed her was to scream out of her lungs, hoping someone would come and stop them. And then she felt the pain.

She couldn't let them. Not again. They won't take her. Never.

In a trance, Max sank her teeth in her arm and didn't stop before the blood flowed in her mouth. Then she allowed herself to relax and sit back in the corner of her cell.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Released from the infirmary, Foxy decided to see if her friend was awake and okay. In the few months Max had been in their unit, she had never looked afraid and days after days she was more and more confident. She trusted all the girls, even if she wasn't really a fan of Blondie, and some of the guys. She talked to Snake, Puck and Biggs; considered and watched Gael, aka 948, as her little brother, and when they were the two alone, she talked to Alec. So to have seen her that frightened today had really shocked Foxy; Max had looked so fragile. Foxy understood Alec's need to protect her; she could feel it too.

"Max? Are you awake?" She asked, looking in the dark cell, not seeing Max on her bunk.

She smelt blood and for a second, she thought it was on her, the scent of the former battle, but then she noticed it was fresh blood. The urge to break the door reached her and she looked again, this time to see Max, curled in the corner and a puddle of blood on the floor.

Foxy unlocked the door and burst into the cell. She kneeled near Max, her left hand looking for a pulse, while her right wrapped her shirt around Max's arm. Then she held Max in her arms and stormed out of the cell, running towards the infirmary.

"452 needs a transfusion," she yelled, laying Max on a bed.

"What happened?" asked a nurse.

"She cut her arm when she was in isolation."

"Is she in heat?"

"Yes."

"Okay," said the nurse and turned towards her colleagues. "Restrain the boys injured and send the others away."

In the next room, Alec laid in his bed when a nurse came to tie him.

"What happened and why the bonds?"

"452 tried to kill herself. She's in heat, we don't want anything else to happen," explained the nurse.

Alec freed himself and jumped on his feet.

"What are you doing? Guards!"

"I'm leaving. I have a call to make."

"You need to rest and heal."

"Later." With that, he stormed out the infirmary and ran towards Lydecker's office. The Colonel wasn't here, but Alec knew that Renfro would send Max in Psy-Ops now that she had tried to kill herself, and he also knew that Lydecker would never want Max to be sent there again.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

It was late at night and four men were discussing in Lydecker's office. One was the colonel himself, he was the one who had ordered the meeting. One was Doctor Lawson, the head doctor of the Seattle facility. One was Doctor Connor, the psychiatrist who had treated Max when she was in the mental institution. The last one was Alec, who wondered why the hell he was even there.

"So what you're saying is that it's Max's previous heat who traumatized her that way?" Lydecker asked Connor. The doctor nodded and the colonel resumed. "That it's the stress she suffered which suppressed her previous heats, since she feels secure her body works normally again and that she will always react that way each time she would be in heat, no matter what we do or how long she stays in Psy-Ops?"

"Exactly."

"What are our options? I can let her inflict that stress to her body."

"We still can suppress her heat?" proposed Lawson.

"And how would we do that?"

"Either we remove all her reproductive system…"

"No way," shoot Lydecker. "She's still a child, but I won't do that to her."

Alec breathed softly in relief. Even if Max never intended to use that part of her body, he knew for sure she didn't want to be diminished in that way.

"… or we gave her an heat suppressor."

"We have one? Why don't we use it with each female?"

"We don't use it because it still is in prototypal state and it makes the subjects nauseous, dizzy, irritable and weaker for three days."

"How does it work?"

"Each trimester the subject has to have an injection, and of course she's completely infertile during the time she take it. It's our own birth control pill."

Lydecker nodded and turned towards Alec.

"494, you're the one who knows Max the best. Do you think she will rather have her reproductive system removed, her heat or a week of weakness?"

"The week of weakness, sir."

"I thought so. Lawson, from now on, I want 452 on your heat suppressor."

"Yes, sir."

"Connor, do you think Max will be okay, or does she need to spend some time at the Clinic?"

"I think if you let her rest for a week, with no stress and the people she trusts around her, she would be fine. I'll see her next Friday."

"Good. Thank you doctors, you can leave." Both the doctors bowed and exited the office, leaving Lydecker deep in thought and a perplexed Alec, who waited to be dismissed.

"How did Max name you, 494?"

Alec froze and Lydecker smiled.

"I know my Maxie. She hates designations, so I'm pretty sure she named your whole unit. Is that true?"

"Yes, sir."

"So what's your name, son?"

"Alec, sir."

Lydecker smiled again, understanding the reason behind that name.

"So Alec," he resumed a moment later, "what can you tell me about Max. You have been her CO for three months now, so how is she doing, usually?"

"She's doing great, sir. She's really quick, she already caught what she missed in fighting, she's the best in obstacle course and the best in escape and evade of course, she's not bad at all in shooting, she's one of the most attentive in classes, and she always wants to beat her own records or other's." Alec was smiling, talking about Max had always the same effect on him.

"Is she happy?"

"She looks like she is, sir. She trusts a huge part of our unit, until today that is." Alec added, with a bit of sadness. He wanted to have his unit completely united soon and he didn't want to see Max step back to the time when she hadn't trusted anyone.

"She still will. Max is strong and smart, she knows who her friends are and I'm sure she's aware that your unit will always protect her."

Lydecker noticed Alec's flinch.

"You don't think so, son?"

"I… I'm not sure, sir. I mean I'm not sure our unit would have protected her today, if I hadn't sent the boys away. I wasn't so sure of myself either. I mean I had those conflicting feelings, I wanted to protect her with my life, but on the other side, her fear made me want to attack her."

"You didn't."

"I know, sir, but I'm still not sure if Max should completely trust us. I mean… what would happen if she's that afraid in an away-mission surrounded by us?"

"Today's Max's fear won't happen again as long as she will take the heat suppressor or until she'll heal from her wounds."

"Will she? I know some girls hate being in heat because of some bad experiences, but I never saw someone react like Max."

Lydecker looked sadly at the young concerned soldier in front of him, then he opened a drawer and took out a large file.

"As Max's CO, if you want to understand Max's behavior in the future, you have to understand what happened to her." He took a picture in the file. "You're right, some girls hate their heats because of previous experiences, the males who fight until they pass out and the winner who takes the female in heat sometimes without her even knowing what's happening, and sometimes harshly. But in Max's case, nothing could ever compare with her 'previous experience'. That's how Max looked when her unit left her alone and the guards finally called the medics." He put the picture in front of Alec and after a look at the photograph, Alec stood up and threw up in the garbage can.

The picture showed Max unconscious on the floor of her former dorm, blood escaping from her mouth, from the numerous bits and scratches on her bust, neck and legs, and between her thighs.

"Sorry, sir", Alec apologized from his un-soldier reaction.

"It's okay, I did the same."

"What happened to her?"

"The eight males of her unit raped her, one after another, while the girls cheered them on. One bit and cut her tongue to restrain her to scream, which was pointless; he was her CO. They took their pleasure to make her bleed, by the most ways possible. Then when all the boys had had her, the girls kicked her for good measure. Max was already unconscious long before they stopped their torture to reach the mess."

Alec's hands were clenched into fists.

"I took care of their punishment," said Lydecker, "and as I said before, Max is in safe hands now. You did the right things today, Alec."

"Thank you, sir." Alec stood up.

"Oh by the way, Max's birthday is Thursday in two weeks, I thought maybe you'd want to know."

"Her birthday, sir?"

"Ordinaries celebrate their birthdays, with cake and gifts," Lydecker explained with a knowing smile.

"Oh… right sir." Alec nodded and left.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

It was Thursday night and as usual, Max was spending the hours she didn't sleep training in the gym. Tonight, she was alone, Foxy had told her she was tired, but Max knew better; the redhead was probably flirting with Sun, unit 8's own Brad Pitt and Foxy's crush.

Max was playing with the ropes when the door opened and Os entered, looking for someone.

"Max?"

"Over here," she replied from the ropes and the 6 feet tall, silver-blond haired, green-eyed boy raised his head to look at her.

"Foxy sent me to bring you back to the dorm," he explained with a shy smile.

"Why didn't she come herself? Wait, let me guess… Sun?"

Os blushed and Max chuckled. Since her heat and her time in the infirmary, she had improved the bonds she had with some members of her unit, Alec, Foxy, Sable and Gael, and developed some new ones with others, in particular with the quiet Os. He was one of her furious teammates who beat the crap out of the five males of unit 10, not that after their battle with Alec and the girls they had needed it, but still, it was nice to know her unit had her back.

Max joined him and they walked towards their dorm.

"You spared great today," Os finally broke their comfortable silence.

"Thank you."

"I heard McFee say he'd probably reassign you to a new partner, seeing how you have improved your fight techniques in the last weeks."

"Really?" Max smiled. She liked Snake, but it was true their sparring sessions had started to be a bit boring. "Do you think it will be Alec or Foxy?"

Os' smile vanished the second she mentioned their CO's name. Why would Alec always have all the eyes on him? First Blondie, then Freya and now Max. It wasn't like he was a living Greek god, for Manticore's sakes. It already was bad that they were eleven guys for seven girls, but if half of the girls had a crush on the same guy, it was worse.

"I dunno," he replied softly. With his luck, it would be Alec, for sure.

They arrived in front of their dorm and Max entered first, only to face an empty place.

"Where is everyb…?" She started, when her friends jumped out from their hideouts with ridiculous paper hats on their heads and goofy smiles on their faces.

"Surprise!" They yelled.

Alec was carrying a sort of cake with fifteen burning matches on.

"Happy birthday, Maxie."

Max was beaming, her eyes watering, and she blew her 'candles' out before they burnt the cake.

"Thank you, all of you, thank you."

"We are not sure about the cake," Sprite warned her. "It was Biggs and Jason's responsibility."

Max tasted her slice and smiled. "It's better than the usual mess food."

The two apprentice cooks clapped their hands together.

"We have gifts," Gael added quickly and rushed to give Max his. In a hand-made envelope, she found a paper telling her she had won a day with Gael as her slave. She laughed and kissed the boy's forehead, making him blush.

Soon the others gave her similar envelopes and soon Max was the beneficiary of different vouchers, massages from Biggs and Os. Girl time with cocooning from Freya and Sable, shooting lessons from Jane. Sun as her partner for when she would need a handsome date, cooking lesson by Jason, dancing lessons from Blondie, human punching bag from Bull, and Snake and Orca, aka 744, offered her to be her bodyguard whenever she wanted. CB gave her a tiny sculpture he had made with electronic elements. Sprite and Puck offered her artisanal fireworks. Foxy gave her a slight pad where she had written a story.

Alec was the only one with a real manufactured gift he had bought during his last week mission and his was a tiny box wrapped in shiny paper. Inside the box was a small golden chain with the name Max in its center.

Without a word, Max hugged him tightly.

"Max, some of us need to breath," he croaked after a time.

'Sorry', she signed. 'Thank you.'

"Lydecker sent you this," he added, holding a brown envelope.

Inside there was a picture of her first unit smiling. They were all there. The date on the back of the picture said October 2008. She didn't remember that day, but she didn't care; she had a picture of her family now. And she was with her friends. Max was happy, and she didn't remember a day when she had been this happy.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N:** So ? Love ? Hate ? Review


	6. Missions

**Title:** Broken doll 

**Author:** Shanee

**Pairing:** M/A eventually

**Rating:** R (minor character death)

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N: **Here is chapter 6, and it will be less dark than the last one. But it still be a bit sad, you'll see why.

This chapter takes place some time after the last chapter; Max is 17 years old at the end.

And I know, it's a shorter piece of work, but the next chapter will be longer.

Thank you all for your reviews.

**MischievousAngel**; Sorry, no MA action now. And in the future Os will have a better role.

**Candyabble**: it was quite hard to me to write this part too. I'm glad I succeeded to transmit some emotions. But Max will still have some drama in her future life, maybe even more upsetting.

**X5-549, indusgirl1313, Hero Lilly **and **Faithie** : thank you very much, here it begins.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Missions**

Max was startled when the phone rang; no one had this number but the bitch and his spawn, and she didn't expect to hear from them so soon. After all, her mission couldn't progress or change right now; her target would be in facial surgery in two days and then he would need three days of rest between the walls of his Swiss clinic before he would be able to come back home. So, now, logically, Max would have six days off, but no, this phone had to ring.

"Yeah?" She picked it up.

"State your designation!" Great, it was the bitch herself.

"X5-452, ma'am," she replied, her voice empty of any emotion.

"452, a mission went wrong and two soldiers need to be rescued. You're the closest soldier we have on the place. X5-427 will be waiting for you at the main entrance of the Botanischen Garten, Berlin, tonight at 2200. He'll explain the situation. Any questions?"

"Who would be the rescue team?"

"427 and you. You have only two soldiers to rescue and our data doesn't indicate any serious opposition."

Yeah sure, that was why we had two soldiers MIA, because it was well known that the X-series were easy to capture.

"Who are the soldiers, ma'am?" Max tried to conceal her irritation at the stupidity of her superior.

"X5-744 and X5-819."

Great, Orca and Blondie. What had happened for them to fail a mission? Even if Max wasn't fond of the blonde girl, she knew she was an efficient soldier, and the stern Orca wasn't one to screw anything up; he was too tight-ass and well prepared to do that.

"Any other questions, soldier?"

"No, ma'am." The phone went dead and Max quickly packed her bag, tossing her black combat outfit with her spare cloak and her ammo inside. She was still reluctant to kill but she was a soldier, a perfect soldier, and a soldier has to kill sometimes. She put her combat knife in her boot and her gun on her back. Then she silently crept outside the manor of the Drucker. Only the maids were at home, but Max didn't have time for a confrontation now and the note she had quickly written would explain everything better anyway. She had received a call from her sick aunt who wanted her near her for the week.

She jumped inside the Jag and quickly left the driveway. She was suddenly happy her mission was to be the reader of a famous scientist's blind mother, and to learn about the scientist's new discoveries. If she had had to befriend an obscure Doctor, sure she wouldn't have this fast car to reach Berlin in… less than four hours.

CB was there where the bitch had told her he would be. He looked defeated. When Max stopped in front of him, his relief wasn't faked.

"What happened?" She asked him as soon as he got into the passenger seat.

"Our mission was to approach Daniel Bränt, he's a musician who had links with Helix44, a German company specialized in genetic research."

"Genetic, always…"

"Blondie's job was to seduce him and of course she succeeded," CB resumed, not taking offence of Max's interruption, and Max could see his fists clenched. It was no secret that the Berber boy was enamored by unit 8's personal Barbie, and that the girl had yet to notice his interest for her, being too busy drooling over Alec's good looks. "Earlier this morning, Blondie and Orca had to break into Helix44's offices, but something went FUBAR, the security wasn't what the data told us and before the transmission went off, I heard some gunshots. It's Sunday, so nobody came inside the office and nobody left either."

"So what's the plan?"

"I hoped you'd tell me."

"We enter, we find them and we disappear. If anybody comes in our way, we clear the way. Ok?"

"It's cool with me. Let's go kick some ass."

Max smiled at her friend, and then they both climbed out of the car and reached the building across the street. Noticing a window opened at the fourth floor, Max signed to CB to follow her when she started to climb the building.

Once inside, they silently tiptoed towards the security room, which they found empty.

"What the hell?" whispered CB, while Max was switching the monitors so she could see what the cameras were filming. She restrained her gasp when she found what they were looking for. In a dark room, four guards were beating an unmoving and chained Orca with a baseball bat in front of an also chained and injured Blondie.

"Neo-Nazis," groaned CB in recognition.

The both of them darted towards the room, their finger on the trigger of their guns. Without a hesitation, Max and CB shot the four men in the head.

CB kneeled beside Blondie and quickly unchained her. She had been shot in the shoulder, the elbow, the leg and the stomach and she was still bleeding. Her eyes were half-closed and she was fighting to remain conscious.

Beside Orca, Max was back in her full soldier mode. She hadn't found a pulse and her teammate was already cold. Refusing to let any thought or emotions disturb her; she quickly detached the dead body and tossed it over her shoulders.

"Where is the data?" She coldly asked Blondie.

"Still in the lab's main computer," whispered the girl, whom CB carried in a hurry outside the room.

"Meet us before the hour at our place, 765 Kreuzberg Strasse," Max heard him yell at her.

Still carrying Orca's corpse, Max walked through a corridor furnished with five cold guards. She had seen their buzz cuts and their tattoos; CB had been right. Noticing the main computer, she hurried to copy the data and then put the Semtex in the place. Then she ran outside the place before it would blow up and drove through the city towards the team's hideout.

When she entered the loft, still carrying Orca, she noticed that CB was still taking care of Blondie's serious injuries, but the girl looked definitely better. She didn't have death printed on her face anymore.

"How is Orca?" CB asked absentmindedly, still trying to stop Blondie's internal bleeding.

"Dead. Is she transportable? The helicopter will be here in ten."

"She should be. I did what I could."

"What happened?" Max asked the girl.

"They surprised us. They started to shoot and Orca's gun blocked. We killed five of them, but they were still firing at us and we weren't in the shape to fight them anymore when they reached us. They were nine humans and we were two X5. That shouldn't have happened that way. We should have heard them coming. There should have been just one guard and he was supposed to watch the soccer game. That's my fault."

"No, it's not!" Max said firmly. "I hear the helicopter, let's go upstairs."

When Max jumped in the chopper with the rest of her teammates, the pilot turned towards her.

"I have orders for three soldiers, not four."

"One is dead, and I need to be debriefed," she replied to him.

"And your mission?" asked CB.

"I have five days to come back. Besides it will piss the bitch off."

It did indeed. But Renfro couldn't say anything, Max was right, she had to be debriefed, it was standard procedure, especially after a KIA, and she didn't endanger her own mission. Besides, with an X5 dead and another seriously injured, Max would be proved useful with the new mission assigned to unit 8 - a mission, which repelled the peroxided witch.

But she had no choice, if she didn't send them, the Committee would suspect something. She could just hope the mission failed, or the Conclave would want her head. Elizabeth Renfro was between a rock and a hard place and she didn't like it a bit.

As soon as Max had been released from the debriefing, she had run towards her unit's rec. room. It had been three months since the last time she had spent some time with their friends apart from missions. Usually as soon as she put a foot in the base, Renfro made her a call and sent her away with a new assignment. If Max was lucky, she had some friends with her, if she wasn't she had none, and recently she hadn't been so lucky.

"Home sweet home," she said, entering the room.

She plunked herself in an armchair and sighed. Nobody was there. They probably still were on the training field.

"Max, hurry up," told her a freshly showered CB. "We are wanted in room 17."

"For what?"

"Tea party. Come on, Max."

She ran with him and they burst into the room, where the rest of her unit, except the injured and dead, were sitting and listening to their CO explain their new mission to them.

"Sorry," mumbled CB.

"Max, CB, nice of you to join us. Senator Tracy Fieldman had reported the disappearance of her only son, Jacob, five hours before being shot by a sniper. She's currently in a coma, under extreme security, in a safe place. Her husband had vanished before the cops could tell him about his wife. He's our first suspect. We have to find him and his son quickly. In case the Senator would need marrow transplantation, his son is her first donor. We will separate in four teams. Biggs as CO of Beta team with CB, Bull and Jane. Os as CO of Charlie team with Snake, Puck and Sprite. Sable as CO of Delta team with Jason, Sun and Freya. Max, Foxy, Gael with me, we are Alpha team. We leave for Portland in thirty minutes, be ready. Dismissed."

The room immediately emptied.

"I'm glad to see you, Max," said Foxy, hugging her friend. "It's sad it has to be on these bad circumstances. I'm sorry for Orca."

"I'm sorry too. They killed him in front of Blondie; they forced her to watch them beating him to death. I would have expected that from some terrorists, not from racist single-minded cretins."

"Max, we'll take care of your bag, go take a shower."

"Thanks Alec."

To Renfro's consternation, the mission had gone well. Unit 8 had found out where the Fieldman men were and rescued Jacob. Doing that, they had also found out the existence of a crazy breeding cult and the super-strength of its members. They had almost lost Sprite and Biggs, and all of them had had to pass by the infirmary during their return to heal some wounds. But the senator had had awaken from her coma and her husband was dead. So far, the mission was a success and Renfro was now trying to plead her case in front of the Conclave.

Blondie was healing from her injuries; unit 8 were mourning the death of their friend and Max had now to return to achieve her Bavarian mission.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

"Honey I'm home!" yelled Max, storming into her dorm where twelve of her friends were sleeping.

"Max!" Foxy immediately awoke and ran towards her best friend. "How are you? How was your mission?"

"I'm fine, and the mission was awful. It's the last time I play babysitter for a teenager. This girl was scary."

Max's latest assignment had been to bodyguard Estella Fontaine, daughter of a famous Canadian actress and a notorious terrorist, and of course, to eliminate the said terrorist at the first occasion. Terminate the second of the S1W had been a piece of cake, but protect his infamous daughter had been a nightmare. The sixteen year old was a spoiled handful and she had wanted Max to become her best friend. Max had dreamed to strangle her so many times that her hands still ached.

The seventeen year old X5 only dreamed now to be able to spend some time with her unit and friends. Over the last year, she had spent maximum fifteen whole days in the base and she was pretty tired of being Renfro's favorite puppet. Sure, she was excellent and she hadn't failed one single mission, and sure Renfro wanted to punish her for being Lydecker's favorite, but that didn't meant she would be able to remain the best any longer if the bitch continued to push her off her limits. She hadn't seen Alec for four months and Foxy for three. She didn't know the last gossips and felt pretty excluded from her own unit. It had to cease.

"Where are the others?" She asked after her unit hugged her.

"Bull is at the infirmary with a broken shoulder, Jane and Puck are on a short-term mission and Alec is somewhere in Seattle for a long-term mission," explained Os.

"Okay." Max was slightly disappointed that Alec wasn't here; he was her best friend and she missed him.

"452, the director wants to see you!" A guard said.

"Tell me she's kidding," exclaimed a desperate Max. "She will never let me breath a minute!"

Max started to hug her friends goodbye. "I'm coming!" she yelled at the guard. "You know, guys, I'm starting to miss Psy-ops. I know I will screw up and I will be able to stay here for a while."

"Courage, Max. See you soon."

"Don't become a stranger."

"Funny, guys." She grinned at them and followed the guard, thinking about a painful way to kill the peroxided witch.

Listening to Renfro tell her about her new mission, Max cursed her pride which prevented her to be a less perfect soldier and therefore which sent her away from the base 350 days a year. At least, she was mostly used to spy people or organizations and not to assassinate Manticore's enemies. Of course, she had to terminate her target sometimes but it wasn't always that. She disliked killing with a passion, even if it didn't mean that she wasn't good at doing it.

"452, your cover identity will be Amy Derrick, 22 years old prodigy, Doctor in Molecular Microbiology, licensed from Oxford University. You're the new technician hired by Pharmatech and you'll have to present yourself at their office tomorrow at 1030. Pharmatech is a branch of the Cale Industries, with which Manticore is in business. We suspect that Jonas Cale, the CEO of Cale Industries, might hide from us some discoveries Pharmatech could have made. Your mission is to gain the trust of your co-workers, report to us any discoveries they could make and find out if Cale effectively concealed anything. Any questions?"

"How much time will I have to accomplish the mission, ma'am?"

Yeah, does that mean that I'll be away for three weeks or three months?

"We'll see in time. Agent Sandoval will tell you what else you need to know and you will report to him each week. Dismissed."

"Yes, ma'am."

So that means long term mission, thought Max leaving the office. But at least Pharmatech was situated in Seattle, maybe she would be able to see Alec. Yeah sure, what are the odds?

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N**: So? Love? Hate? Review?

What do you think will happen now?

PS: I know Pharmatech probably exists somewhere in the world, and in lot of different fanfics, but I couldn't find another name, so no, I don't own any Pharmatech place, that's a fictional one.


	7. Amy Derrick

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author:** Shanee

**Pairing:** M/A eventually

**Rating:** R (not really in this one)

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters. And I don't own any Pharmatech in the world, it's a fictional place.

**A/N:** Here is chapter 7, and yes, finally some M/A action but I'm afraid it's not the kind you are waiting for. But enjoy it for what it last. I can't promise you'll see a lot of them in the future chapters.

Drum rolls…!!! Entrance of a missing character. When I first watched DA, I didn't dislike Logan at all, I was your average M/L shipper, now I'm grown up and I find him boring, especially in all the fics I read. This chapter and the next will probably have some Logan bashing, but I hope it won't be too cliché and you'll like my portrait of him.

Oh, and the next chapter will be darker, be warned.

**djonie**: Come on, are you reading my mind or am I that predictable. Good guess.

**Timetowaste247**: yes you were right, it was a filler. This one is better, I hope.

**vballfanatic**: your wish should be fulfilled ;-)

**HikaruOfArrow**; thank you very much.

**Important A/N**: this chapter is unbeta-ed, Dezy, my wonderful beta reader is too busy with her life currently, so sorry if you find too many mistakes. Remember, I'm French, and English is only the third language I learned. If one of you wants to beta my next chapter, until Dezy has more time, feel free to mail me or review. Thx.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Amy Derrick**

It already was two weeks since Max worked in the labs of Pharmatech and so far, if she hadn't learnt anything crucial, at least she worked on her cover. Thanks to her photographic memory and her learning skills, courtesy of Manticore, she was able to fool anyone that she was who she pretended to be. She was a chameleon like that character of 'The Pretender' that pre-pulse TV-shows she had watched a night. Give her a day and a book and she will be a doctor, a Nobel prize, a mechanic or a prima ballerina.

Glancing through her microscope, Max sighed; it was so damn boring.

"What's up Amy?" asked her nearer colleague, a geek in her mid-thirties. "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing, that's the problem. It's not the reaction I expected," Max mumbled in her English accent.

The woman laughed. "Are you telling me that you're teed off because it actually works? Did someone already tell you that you're weird?"

"You can say that, Alice."

Was she weird? Was a lab-made revved up killing machine weird?

"Hey Amy, do you have a date for tonight?" Billy, another co-worker in his late twenties, asked her.

"Oh right, the party. I forgot. I don't know if I'll come."

"Come on, Amy, you have to live a little. I'll pick you at seven." Before she could protest, the man had already left the lab.

"Great," she grumbled, making Alice smile.

"He's not so bad, and I saw ugliest."

"I know, but I don't mix business and pleasure."

Alice nodded in understanding.

††††††††††††††††††††††††

Hours later, Max didn't regret to be at that party anymore. Of course, she had Billy, following her like a puppy in love who didn't seem to take the hint she wasn't interested, but she was right in the place she had to be. The party wasn't only to Pharmatech's employees but also for the members of three other branches of Cale Industries, and the boss was there, mingling with his close collaborators.

Lewis, her chief, had presented her to Jonas Cale and Max couldn't help but shudder at the recollection of the libidinous look the big boss had given her. She knew it could be easy for her mission if she replied to his expectations, but she wasn't ready to do that, with him, even for the sake of a mission. It would have another way to approach him. Eew…

"Amy, come here. I want you to meet an old friend of mine!" Lewis called her again.

Managing her naïve and interested smile, Max walked towards the head of her lab, who was discussing with a blond guy with glasses.

"Amy, meet Logan Cale. Logan is Jonas' nephew, he's journalist and I know him since he was a toddler. Logan, meet Amy Derrick. Amy is our new hired prodigy, she's brilliant and she's new in town, freshly arrived from Oxford." Lewis could give lessons to Bridget Jones.

"Nice to meet you," replied Max with her best polite and shy voice.

"Pleasure is all mine," Logan said with his, probably, best charming smile.

"Now that the presentations are done, I leave Amy in your hands, Logan, and please behave."

"Who do you think I am, Lew? I always behave, especially with such a beautiful lady."

Refraining to roll her eyes, Max forced herself to blush.

As soon as Lewis had turned his heels, Logan was entirely focused on the beautiful girl in front of him. Lewis had told him she was smart and knew nobody in town, and god, she was gorgeous. Logan had always loved women and he had known a lot of really pretty ones. But this girl had something else; she was perfect. Brown silky locks, perfect little nose, voluptuous full lips, deep mysterious eyes, a tan which would make the Californians frown, endless legs, curved back and her breasts, oh her breasts, which looked ready to escape from the blue fabric of her dress.

The man was so enticed by her appearance, his eyes devouring her whole body, that he didn't realize that Max was perfectly aware of his oggling.

'All right, I know I'm perfect, Manticore made me, but could he droll a little less', wondered Max. She was aware nobody could compete with her or her fellows X5, but for what she had heard, the prodigal nephew had had his content of beautiful girls, and he could refrain himself better.

She smiled shyly at him. If she had to flirt a little to achieve her mission, she would rather do it with him than with his uncle.

"So, Amy, right?"

She nodded, still smiling like the naïve geek she was supposed to be.

"Are you English?"

"No, actually I'm American, born in Ohio. But my parents moved in London after the pulse, and I always lived there since."

"And how do you like our country so far?"

"It's… nice?" she tried timidly.

Logan laughed.

"Seriously…"

"It's dirty, and scary. We have poor in England, but nothing like that. I'm glad I live near the lab, I wouldn't have to walk in those streets at night."

"Me neither, and I'm a strong man."

_Yeah right._ Max had to fight her urge to snort. Instead she gave him an admiring look.

"But we have some nice places too. I'll be happy to give you a tour of our museums and restaurants."

"That would be nice." Careful Max, you're naïve, not ditzy. "I love art. When I was little, Dad always brought me to visit castles and museums. I saw the Louvre, Fontainbleau and Chambord the first time we visited France. I was eight and I was amazed." Let's go with the story of Amy Derrick. Give the man something to speak else than the weather. And Max had really visited those castles during previous missions, so she knew what she was talking about.

"Really. I visited the Louvre when I was seventeen, but I have to say at that time I wasn't really interested in Art, more in the ladies." He winked at her and Amy blushed when Max had to bit her cheek not to crack up.

"So, Amy what would you say if I said let's go elsewhere?"

"I really don't know," Max looked at the floor, biting her lips and playing with a curl, obviously embarrassed. "I mean… you're kind of my boss. I'm not sure it would be smart. And we just met, we don't really know each other."

'I agreed to flirt, but don't think you will get laid,' she groaned in her head. Men!

"Oh sure, Amy. I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you ill-at-ease, and you're right. We don't know each other. Not yet at least. Maybe I could call you, sometimes in the week, and we could go to a museum, as friends."

Amy beamed, and Max snorted inside. "That would be wonderful."

Logan grinned. This girl looked like a challenge. He would have her, even if he had to be patient. She would be his tour de force.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††

It was four days after the party and Max had received a bouquet each morning, which annoyed her male co-workers, made the girls gush and Lewis smile knowingly. Logan had called her and she had agreed to visit the Asian museum in his company the next day.

She was now sat on a bench in a park, and the spawn was sat on the bench behind her.

"I read your reports," Sandoval told her.

For every pedestrian around, Max seemed interested in her book.

"I understood that Logan Cale seems to have shown an interest on you."

"Yes, sir, it seems so."

"Do you think it could help you to achieve your task?"

"It seems so, sir."

"All right. Do it!"

"I'm sorry, sir? What do you think I have to do?"

"Do what the mission requires. Do what you have to do to gain his trust and to be in Cale's secrets."

"Yes, sir, but I'm not sure Logan Cale knows anything interesting. He's the prodigal nephew, with a reputation of spoiled son and womanizer. He seems only interested in throwing money by the windows and annoying his family. It would be easy for me to go into his sheets, but I'm not convinced it would help the mission."

"You're right, 452, but he's also the genuine heir. He will be the boss when he turns 35, or at his uncle's death, and we're sure that with your help, he'll quickly want to know everything about his inheritance."

"You want me to convince him to grow up and look after his heritage, sir?"

"Exactly. We are certain that Logan Cale could be a really useful pawn for Manticore, especially when he will be the head of Cale Industries."

A dread feeling reached Max's stomach; it sounded like a really long long-term mission. If she had to wait for the man's 35th birthday… But no, it wouldn't. Even if Renfro disliked her, she would never lose a soldier for so long. Max probably would have to kill the uncle as soon as Logan will be Manticore's new puppet.

"Any questions, 452?"

"No, sir."

"Perfect. We'll contact you for the next meeting point."

Sandoval stood up and walked away. Max waited ten others minutes before quitting the park.

The night was falling and she knew where she would go now. She had noticed it the first week, but she hadn't been able to go there before. She needed to act like little naïve Amy in case she was watched, and Geek Amy would have no reason to climb there. It was too 'dirty and scary'. But now, she was sure she wasn't watched, neither by Manticore, who wouldn't have a reason to do it, nor by Pharmatech, which seems like an honest enterprise, as far as a pharmaceutical company could be honest.

Tonight was her night and she was free to go there.

She entertained herself, stirring her muscles jumping from roof to roof, just for the pleasure not to conform herself to the rules of the city and to avoid the Sector cops. She had an all-sector pass, but that was too boring and too ordinary for tonight.

She was soon at the top of the Space Needle and she sat in the wind, looking at the dark city in front of her. The High Place, she had found it. For the first time in a long time, she thought about her family and especially about her brother Ben. Where was he? Was he happy? Had him all the girls throwing themselves at his feet? Yeah, probably, he was Alec's twin after all, a gorgeous male. Then Max thought about her best friend. Where was he? Was the mission going well? Did he miss her like she missed him? Probably not, he wasn't touchy-feely like her. Oh, right, she wasn't either. But she still missed him. He was her first friend, her male best friend, her confident, her… something. Max often wondered if Renfro was aware of the close bonds her two best soldiers shared and if it wasn't one of the reason she always separated them.

Thanks to the others, Max knew about Alec, even if she never saw him anymore. Their friends always told her about their missions and they were aware that Max suffered to be left aside. So she knew about his missions, his successes, his records, about the time when Blondie deliberately didn't go in Iso just to throw herself at him but ended in Bull's arms because Alec wasn't interested, or about Lola, Biggs' and his best intercourse. It was almost five months since she had last seen him and she hoped he was okay.

Max was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the person approaching in her back. But as soon as the wind brought his smell to her nostrils, she jumped on her feet and into his arms.

"Alec!"

"Max? What are you doing here? In Seattle."

"Long-term mission, like you. And you, what are you doing here, on the Space Needle, not that I mind?"

"You always told me about Ben's high place, so I come here to think."

"About?"

"A lot of things. But stop talking about me. Talk about you. How are you? How is your mission? Did you grow up again, since the last time?"

"Shut up, you know I didn't. Smart-ass." It was their joke, Max was petite and her body didn't seem to want to grow up more. "But I'm fine, always when you're around." She smiled at him and he laughed. The others always said they were continually flirting when they were together, but that was their special thing, their way to react to each other. It didn't mean anything else, and surely not what was in the dirty minds of their unit mates. They were just really close friends. "And the mission is boring. I have to spend the day in a lab, looking through a microscope, hoping to make a big discovery, and now I have to open the eyes and wake up the conscience of a spoilt grown-up brat, in order for Manticore to have a new puppet."

Alec frowned at what she said.

"How?"

"How do you think? Flirt, gain his trust, play with his mind. Pick one."

"Are you okay with that?" He knew Max really wasn't fond to seduce her targets. She always found another way to achieve her missions, but he knew she hated being in that situation. He was also aware that she wouldn't always find another way, sometime there wasn't another way, and he dreaded the day that would happen.

He knew Lydecker didn't want Max to use her charms for a mission, but he also knew that Renfro didn't care and would never tell him. And Max was too damn stubborn being the perfect soldier that she would probably sacrifice herself for a mission. So Alec decided he would alert Lydecker about her mission as soon as his ended. The Colonel was too busy with the 09ers to know everything concerning Max, but he had trusted him with Max's safety and Alec knew it was his role to protect her. Even if that meant protect her against Renfro's orders.

"It will be okay, don't worry, Alec, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. After all, you learned from the best." He smirked and she slapped his shoulder.

"Smart-ass. Tell me about your mission."

"Max!?"

"Come on. I told you about mine. So tell me about yours. It's not like I don't know your specialty."

"Robert Berrisford. You have in front of you Simon Lehane, Rachel Berrisford's piano teacher."

"Nice to meet you Simon, I'm Amy, Amy Derrick, Oxford genius. Would you play for me one day, Simon?"

"Maybe Amy. It will depend on what you will do in exchange." He added with his signature smirk.

She played the game and smiled seductively, whispering in his ear. "I could… gave you something…" She licks her lips and Alec felt his throat dry suddenly. "… to cure the seizures!" She laughed at his miffed face.

"Party pooper," he groaned, and added after an instant. "Was you serious?"

"Like death. I told you, my mission is boring, but I have all the time I want to experiment some chemicals compositions. And I'm actually working on something, which could be better, more efficient and quicker than the Tryptophan, and of course cheaper."

"Nice." They still had seizures. Manticore had looked for a way to treat them, but if surgery worked sometimes, some other times they had lost their soldiers during the operation, so they had decided to put them all on Tryptophan.

"I could even sell it to Manticore. What do you think about my idea?"

"You're a genius, but be careful, they will be pissed if they realize that you play with them."

"Yes, daddy."

"Eew, I'm not that old, and I'm not Deck. And don't you dare call me brother either."

"All right, Dick."

He groaned and launched himself at her. She laughed and quickly stood up in a fighting stance.

"Spar time, Dicky."

"All right, Bitchy."

Both missed their fights and they quickly started their special 'dance', laughing all the way.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

It was their third date, and if Logan knew something, it was date and date's rules. At the third date, you get laid. Of course, usually he didn't need to wait for the third date, but Amy wasn't his average date. For one, she was smarter than three quarter of his ex girls together, and for two, she was shy. If he didn't knew that with a body like hers, it was impossible, he could believe she was a virgin. But she was English, twenty-two years old and a science student, three facts that prevented her to still be a virgin.

Escorting her to their table in the most beautiful and expensive restaurant of Seattle, Logan was undressing her with his eyes. She wore a simple dress, printed with minuscule flowers, and with her hair cascaded down her back, she looked like Innocence personified. She didn't look more than twenty tonight, but every eyes were on her as she walked and Logan felt proud like he never had felt. She was his girl.

He loved being the attention of the room, and he could feel the envy in all the men's stares. That was definitely addictive.

He was telling her about his life and she was attentively listening to him. She looked completely entranced by his person and his words, not that was something really new for him, he was used to girls who were interested in him, but those girls had never seems as genuinely interested as she was tonight. She was a smart woman and she looked at him like he was God. He loved that. So he smiled more and continued to regale her with his past adventures.

Max had a cramp. She was admiring the man in front of her for one hour and her face hurt. It wasn't that easy to look fascinated when the object of her fascination was that boring. Come on, did he really think the story of all his past famous conquests would turn her on? Listening to him, Max had quickly found out what was Logan's favorite subject. Him, him and him again. The man seemed to live to be worshipped. At least, she had her angle. It would be easier to convince him to become involved in his company if she could convince him it would do good for his persona.

Playing the clueless girl again, Max smiled at him and kept her hand close to her chest, as far away of his as she can without looking suspicious or not interested. Less she gave him a chance to feel her up, better it was.

"But I talk, I talk, and I know nothing about you Amy but your love for chemical reactions." _What a geek…_ "Tell me about your childhood, and your family. I'm sure your parents must be wonderful people to have such a daughter."

Here it comes. Amy gave him a tensed smile, while Max laughed and recalled about 'her story'.

"Not exactly," she said in a breath. She had to give him the impression she confided in him. "I have been adopted when I was a baby, I never knew my real parents." Strike! She had caught his whole attention, and pity was showing. She had to involve his feelings, or she would never be anything else than a notch in his bedpost. "My foster dad is really authoritarian and he's not often at home, always away for his job. But he truly loves me. Contrary to my foster mother who can't stand me and is the reason I left England." Amy tried not to look affected, while Max was congratulating herself to be such a good actress.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to remind you of her."

"No, no, it's okay," she pretended to be brave. "Besides I'm not unhappy. They gave me a great education." _'scoff'_ "And I probably deserve my mother's anger. If I hadn't run away from our house when I was little, she probably wouldn't hate me so much."

"You ran away? Why?"

"I wanted to see the real world. My family has always been secluded. But when they found me, Dad was furious and they sent me in that boarding school. I never wanted to see the real world after that."

"It was that bad?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She gave him a small smile.

"Of course, I'm indiscreet. Sorry."

"It's okay." Indeed it was. He was right where she wanted him, interested about her and concerned. "But can I ask you something personal?"

"Of course, Amy," he replied with his most charming smile.

"I don't understand why you don't work in your Industries. You're licensed from a good University, you're 28 and you're clever, so why?"

"I think I love my actual life too much. I'm not ready to be serious."

"But aren't you bored sometimes? I know I will if I'd have nothing to do my whole day."

"I do things. I read a lot, sometimes I write an article and I visit museums, and I meet beautiful girls like you."

Amy blushed a little, and Max gritted her teeth. That was lame!

"Don't you want to have something special, something completely yours? A job you could be proud of, your family could be proud of."

"I'm not really fond of my family."

"I meant your family as your own, your wife and kids. You do want a family, right?"

"Yes, of course. Why? Do you want to appeal for?" He gave her a flirtatious wink.

"Oh no, not at all," she exclaimed.

Logan's face fell a second, and Max grinned. Hooked! Now he would want to have her and not only sleep with her.

Logan couldn't believe it. She wasn't interested.

But why? He was gorgeous, smart, rich, a great catch and this girl didn't dream to be his wife, not that she would but still. That hurts.

"Can I ask you why?" His hurt pride couldn't help but ask and didn't care about dignity.

"Oh, it's not you", she nicely said. "You're perfect and I'm sure a lot of women would be happy to be your wife. But it's just me. I don't think I will ever get married."

"Why?" enquired the now reassured Logan.

"No reason. Just a feeling. And I don't know who would want to marry me, after all I'm a geek."

"A really beautiful geek," Logan added and asked for the bill. "I'm pretty sure one day someone will knock at your door and propose."

She laughed, amused. "I think I have too many expectations. I could never marry someone who doesn't fully understand and know me, who doesn't accept me for who I truly am. And I want to be loved, and to love in return. I want to find my Prince charming, but I know there is no Prince Charming for me in this world."

"Of course, there is."

They reached his car.

"So, do you want to have a last drink, somewhere?" he asked with full confidence.

"I can't. Not tonight. My best friend is in town and I promise we will see each other tonight."

Logan hid his disappointment and smiled.

"Do you think you would want to dine with me another day?"

"Of course. I had a great time. You know my number."

With that, she climbed in a taxi. It was so quick that he hadn't even received a goodnight kiss. That girl was definitely different.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Max was late. Actually, no, they had never said an hour, but still Alec was already waiting for his best friend to come. Sat in the wind, he was deep in thought. He really needed her advice tonight.

The young X5 was confused and didn't know what to do with the feelings his mission awoke inside him. He wasn't conceived to have feelings and therefore didn't know what to do with them. He already had feelings, but they were feelings for his unit mates and that was something easy to deal with. He knew these were reciprocated and he could trust them, himself and his friends. But those new feelings were different and he was lost.

That was why he needed Max. The things he felt for his target's daughter were close to the feelings he had for his best friend, but he knew Rachel Berrisford was far to be his best friend, so here he was, confused.

"Eyes front, soldier!"

He couldn't help but obey the order, then he groaned and turned to see an hilarious Max.

"That's not funny, Maxie."

"Sure, it is. How are you Alec?"

"I'm fine. How was your date?" he stressed the last word.

"Boring as always. I just had fun picturing Renfro as my evil foster mother."

"Jeez, what would you do such a thing?"

"I needed to move my target."

"Did it work?"

"Perfectly."

"How does that progress?" He was worried for her. A part of him wanted her mission to end soon to free her, and another part wanted her to fail to protect her from her target's claws.

"Slowly but surely. He'll call me."

"Great," he grumbled.

"Don't worry Alec, I'll be okay. And you, what's new?"

"I think I might have a problem."

"Really? What kind of problem? Exposure?"

"No, nothing like that. Just the girl, you know…"

"Rachel?"

"Yes, her. She looks like she's interested in me, romantically."

"She wouldn't be the first."

"Yeah, I know that, but it's different. She's different. She doesn't look at me like the others; you know she sees something, someone else. Someone I may like. Someone I want to be."

"Alec, she doesn't know you. Who she sees is not you, is not real," Max's voice was colder.

"But Max I want it to be real. I want…"

"You can't! She's your mission, nothing else."

"Max!"

"What?!"

"Why do you react like that? Why are you angry?"

"I'm not." Max looked pissed.

"Yes, you are!"

"I am not angry! I have no reason to be." Her eyes were challenging him to object, and Alec felt bad, he didn't want to fight with her.

"I'm sorry Maxie. It's just… It would be nice if for a moment I was someone else, someone… pure."

"We are soldiers, Alec. We are not pure. We have blood on our hands, that's who we are."

"I know that… It's just…" He sighed and Max put her arm around his shoulders.

"Just be careful, Alec. Promise?"

"Promise."

"I'll miss you when you will be back at the base. I will be all alone here, with my microscope and my boring 'date'."

"Don't worry. You'll see me soon." He promised and kissed her forehead.

Max smiled at him and they relaxed in each other embrace, watching the lights of Seattle.

"I'll always be here for you."

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N :** So ? Love ? Hate ? Review !

I hope you enjoyed the M/A scenes, because as I said before, you won't read another soon.

Oh and in the previous chapter, it wasn't a « spare cloak » you had to read but a « spare glock » (the gun). Sorry for the mistake.

No offence to English people intended, with my remark about Max's virginity, it's just that I know us, European, and we aren't really the kind to wait for our wedding night, luckily.

Remember, I need a beta-reader for my next chapter, which is already written, so if you want to apply, you'll be welcome.


	8. Normal life ?

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing**: M/A eventually

**Rating:** R (dark theme in this chapter)

**Setting:** AU after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters. And I don't own any Pharmatech in the world, it's a fictional place.

**A/N:** So sorry for the time I took. I hope I haven't lost any readers. I'm not sure when I will be able to update this fic, but I have other chapters already written, so don't worry, I will.

When in Max's POV, she's thinking about a "bitch and her spawn", she's thinking about Renfro and Agent Sandoval. I hope I won't confuse anyone. Oh, and when you see thoughts in _italic_, they're Max's.

This chapter is one of my darkest and you will understand why, once you've read this. I hope I won't offend anyone, seeing as it deals with some pretty disturbing scenes. And yes, Logan doesn't have the best picture painted.

thanks for taking time to read this, and thanks for your reviews.

**twinkiecat:** I hope you still like my fic so far. Thx anyway. And one day, you'll know about Sara.

**Vampiress-06**: thx and thank you for your offer.

**ShalBrenfan**: thank you again, great new beta-reader. For a newbie, you're really good.

**Sivan**: thank you sivan, and yes, I think I found a new beta-reader, the wonderful Izzy. Why all my beta-readers have a name (or nickname) finishing in '-zy'? Interesting question, or not . I love jealous Max too, but she won't be before a long time.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Normal life?**

It had been two months since that night on the Space Needle and Max hadn't seen Alec since. She wasn't worried; she knew his mission was over. He was probably back at Manticore, or sent on a new mission. She just hoped her own mission would end soon, although she knew it wasn't probable. Logan Cale was slowly awaking from his selfish lethargy, but it still was too slowly for her taste. She wanted her mission over, but it wasn't happening. Not yet.

She had found only one discovery Pharmatech had made that Jonas Cale had hidden from Manticore, and even if Manticore wasn't pleased with that, they still didn't want her to terminate him. They wanted her to maintain her cover and work on their second project; the Cale heir. She was dating Logan for a while now and he was becoming more and more attracted to her with time being. Of course, her repetitive refusal to go further than some kisses in their relationship was driving him crazy and more addicted to her day after day. She was relieved he seemed to understand her reluctance to have sex, even if she didn't understand why he did. After all, he was a red-blooded male, and she was designed to be a walking sex dream.

It was their anniversary of something, and Max was sitting in the living room in front of a nice table, emptied plates and half consumed candles. Logan had made pasta, again. It wasn't that he was a bad pasta cooker; after all he just needed to boil water, but pasta ended quickly up to be boring and repetitive. Even if there were many different names, it still remained cooked wheat flour, and there wasn't so many ways to accommodate them.

Logan was coming back from the kitchen with a chocolate cake. He hoped she would like the care he put to buy her a dessert from the best bakery in town. She was such a weird woman. Money and luxury didn't thrill her. She didn't care about what the women he dated usually cared about. She was a great conversationalist, she was smart, but she probably cared only about her researches and she was so dedicate to her work, and of course him. After all, he could see in her eyes she was madly in love with him, even if she had yet to say the words.

After she had finished her plate, he took her hand in his and kissed softly her palm.

"I love you, Amy." Logan had never believed in love at first sight, but without two weeks in her company, he knew this girl was the one for him. She was perfect, and gorgeous, oh my, how gorgeous she was. He had had so many wet dreams about her that the maid had started to look at him strangely. He knew she was shy; she was always blushing at his compliments or innuendos, and something obviously happened to her in her past that refrained her to enter the third base with him. But he was confident that as soon as she would trust him fully not to hurt her, she would be a wildcat in his bed; at least that was what his repeating dreams were telling him each night.

So he had waited for the perfect occasion to tell her his feelings. He was sure that was the reason, which refrained her to declare her love for him; she was so unsure of her charms that she was afraid to make a fool of herself in telling first.

_Holy crap! I'm in trouble. What is he thinking?_

He saw her face turn white for a second before blushing profusely. "It's okay. I know that you feel it too. I read it in your eyes. Don't be afraid."

_He's kidding, right? Tell me he's kidding. 'I read it in your eyes.' Really? How lame. God, buy yourself a "Being smooth for dummies". What the hell do I do now? Stupid mission. I want to go home. God, Maxie, just do it. They're just words after all. Stupid presumptuous snoot._

"'Love you too." _Erk. That's it. I said it. Can I wash my throat, now?_

Logan was beaming. He was right. She was just afraid. So he could continue with his plan for the evening. Now, nothing could go wrong.

He kneeled in front of her.

_What the – What now? Oh shit! No. No, no, no! Don't. Get up. Don't open your hand. No, I don't want to see it. I refuse! Stupid mission. I hate them. And look at that stone. What does he think? That I'm ready to wear the Crown Jewels or want my shoulder dislocated?_

"Amy, would you make me the happiest man on earth? Would you marry me?"

Max was at a loss for words. Even Manticore couldn't help her to talk. All she could think was how painful the bitch and her spawn's deaths would be.

"I know it could look quite sudden, but I know you're the perfect wife I could ever dream to have at my side. You're beautiful and smart. I'll always be proud to have you at my arm."

I, I and I. Always him!

Seeing that she had yet to answer him, Logan hastily resumed. "If you worry about my family, don't. They already love you. And you would never have to worry about money or comfort. I will take care of you, I'll treat you like the princess you are. And don't worry about the wedding either, I took care of everything. I love you Amy, I would never hurt you."

"I need to go to the bathroom." An extremely white Max ran for said room.

She quickly locked the door and turned the water on. Then she opened the window and climbed outside. Once on the roof, she opened her cell and pressed speed dial.

"X5-452, for an emergency call. Need to speak to a superior immediately."

"You can't use this number while in mission, 452. You risk endangering your cover, or the base."

"It's an emergency, dumbass, and if you don't give me him or her, right now, it would be you who endangered my mission."

"I'm listening, 452. What's your emergency?" the spawn's voice reached her.

"He asked me to marry him. I don't know what the procedure is in this specific case, sir."

"He proposed? So soon?" Sandoval was obviously surprised.

"Yes, sir. He's actually expecting my response. I managed to have some time alone to call you. What are my orders, sir?"

"Be happy, soldier, you're getting married."

Max's face fell. She had hoped she would have to decline.

"Yes, sir." She replied, her voice void of emotions. She hung up and quickly rejoined the bathroom, when Logan knocked at the door.

"Amy, are you okay there?"

She washed her face and opened the door, with an uneasy smile on her face. "Sorry, the emotions, the surprise…"

"So?" He asked, hopeful.

"So?" she repeated, falsely confused.

"Amy, you're killing me here. What's your response? Will you marry me? If it's the intimacy that scares you, don't worry, I won't rush you into something you're not ready for, and eventually you'll get used to." He added with a smirk, which made her nauseous. "I promise you I will never hurt you. Please, Amy? Can you abridge my torture?"

"Yes." She whispered.

"Yes? Yes you will marry me?"

"Yes, I will marry you, Logan."

He let a shriek of joy escape from his throat, and kissed her passionately.

He drove her to the sofa and sat next to her, her hands secure in his.

"I already hired a wedding planer. My aunt Margo will lend us her mansion for the ceremony. As I told you, I took care of everything. We will be married by the end of the month."

"Month? Which month? This month?"

"Yes, this month, I can't wait to call you Mrs. Amy Cale."

"That's… nice?"

Logan didn't realize Max's nervousness and had resumed, talking about the colors of the bridesmaid's dresses, the kind of flowers, the names of the guests, and on and on.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Logan was proud of himself. Amy would love his surprise; she had to. After all he spent a lot of time to achieve it. Without any clue where to look for, it had been a bit hard to find them.

So there they were, the eve of their wedding, in his aunt's house to look at the last details for the big day, and in few minutes, his surprise would ring the bell. He had inviting them to dinner, Margo had told him it was the right thing to do, especially if he wanted them to be at the wedding tomorrow.

Max was bored to death. She didn't want to be married, she didn't care about the china patterns and Margo Cale was a bitch in disguise. If it wasn't suitable for a Cale wife to be working, she wouldn't for sure stay at home the whole day with him. It would be quicker to shoot herself instead. So when the bell rang and the maid announced their "guests", she had the worst difficulties not to choke on her drink. "Elizabeth and Jonathan Derrick" were here. And she only knew one Elizabeth; the last one she wanted to see.

Slowly she forced herself to look where the guests were coming, and she wanted to cry when she saw the cold smile on the bitch's face. Logan was beaming at her, obviously happy of her surprised face. Which words in her 'story' didn't he understand? She was supposed to hate her 'foster mother', why would have she wanted to have them at her wedding?

"Amy!" Sun was running towards her and hugged her.

"John," she managed to reply.

"How are you little sis?"

"Better now," she played along then looked at Renfro. "Mother, glad to see you."

"Pleasure is all mine, Amy dear."

Max wasn't sure for whom it was harder to fake their 'family' feeling.

"Do you like my surprise, darling?" Logan asked her, still beaming with pride.

"Of course, hon'," she replied between gritted teeth.

Luckily, Margo Cale decided that now was the perfect time to involve Amy's mother in the wedding, leaving her soon to be niece-in-law some time alone with her brother. "Amy, dear, why won't you give a tour to your brother," said Renfro.

"That's a nice idea, mother. Come John."

As soon as they were outside the door, Max's 'Amy face' disappeared and she suppressed her urge to scream her frustration.

"I can't believe him! He had to invite her. I swear, Sun, I want to strangle him so bad that my hands hurt."

"I'm sorry Max." He hugged her again, then he managed to guide her towards a gazebo in the park.

"That's your supply in Tryptophan…" He said giving her two bottles.

"Thanks but keep them. I found better."

"You did?"

"Yes, Alec didn't tell you?"

"No. And that's a spare dose of your heat suppressor, in case…"

"I hope I really won't need it. I still have one dose at home and I don't need to take it before a month. I don't want this mission to last forever. Thanks anyway. How are you and the others? What's new at home?"

"Blondie had finally opened her eyes concerning CB, and these two idiots have mated at her last heat."

"At least, now, she won't try to jump each attractive male's bones," Max joked with her fist real smile in month.

"Puck had dyed Trainers Hollander and Harris' underwear purple and Sprite managed to corrode their belts so our beloved trainers gave the whole facility a free show."

Max laughed.

"Gael claims he's in love."

"Gael? With who?" Gael was the youngest of their unit and Max always considered him as her little brother.

"X6-266, she's fourteen, CO of her unit, jade eyes, pink cheeks, raven hair and tinier than you or Foxy. She's funny, we had to work with their unit one month ago, you would approve. Sable named her Kestrel."

"Speaking of Foxy, how is my best friend? Still flirting with you."

"Nope," Sun made a small face. "She's fine. She's after Os, now."

"What?" That was new. In the three years, Max had known unit 8, Foxy had always had eyes for Sun and only for him, and even if Sun had never acted on it, everybody knew that it wasn't for lack of interest in the witty titian soldier. Despite being the ultimate fantasy of the whole female part of the compound, Sun was a shy as a feral cat, and he didn't want to damage his friendship with 382. And Os had never hidden really well his infatuation for Max, so that was weird. "Why?"

"I don't know. They went to a mission together and when they came back, it was different. They went friends and they came home lovers or something like that. She's acting differently since, she's avoiding me, and she's really quiet with him."

"I'm sorry Sun."

"Thanks, Max, but it's all right. It's my fault. I lost my chance. On funnier subjects, Sable went after Biggs at her last heat."

"Again?" Max was amused; the oldest girl of their unit couldn't stand to be near Biggs in usual times, but when her heat hit, she was always after him, shaming her for days after that. "How many times does that make now?"

"Since Biggs turn fifteen, three times a year, make your count. Oh and Freya made it SIC in squad commander, with 315 as CO."

"What? That's great for Frey, but what about Alec?"

"Alec is in Psy-Ops, Max."

"WHAT!? Why?" Panic was written all over Max's face.

"He screwed up his last mission. He has been there for three months."

"I'm going home." She said, rising to her feet.

"You can't Max. You have your mission."

"Screw the mission, Sun. I need to see Alec, he needs me. I can't stay here if he's there."

"Max! You CAN'T. They will send you in Psy-Ops if you do that."

"'Don't care. I won't let them destroy him."

"He won't stay there any longer. It's been three months, they will release him soon, and we will be here for him. Don't worry. But you have to stay and complete your mission. You can't be sent in Psy-Ops again, Max, it will kill you."

Max was fuming. "I hate them," she cried. "Why did he screw up? Do you know what happened?"

"Something about being sentimentally involved with his target's daughter and that clouded his judgment."

"Rachel!" Max spat the name with venom and jealousy. "I. Will. Kill. This. Girl!"

"Don't. That will hurt him."

"I know," she said, calming down. "Please, Sun, promise me you'll have him back. Him, not only 494."

"We'll try, Max, promise."

Both of them were aware that after a long time in Psy-Ops, you changed and were never the same as before. Except maybe for Max, but for Max the torture hadn't been between the Psy-Ops walls, it was outside.

"Take care of yourself, Max," Sun hugged her a last time before walking towards the mansion.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Max was Mrs. Amy Cale for two weeks and she knew that she couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. Logan was being patient, sure, but he wasn't a monk and she could read it in his eyes. He wanted her, and he wanted her now. Each night, when they fell asleep in the same bed, their conjugal bed, she always kept her distance from him and he respected that, at first. But recently, she always awoke with his arms around her waist, and his legs entangled with hers. She hated it, but she couldn't complain. After all, she was his wife. And as his wife she should be proud of his constant hard-on in her proximity.

She just went home from work, it was late, she had eaten at her lab, and already he was looking at her like she was the ice-cream he was dying for. He patted the couch near him and she quickly gave him a peek on the lips. But of course, it didn't satisfy him, so he deepened the kiss, she obliged and soon they were making out on the couch.

She couldn't help but tense when she felt his hands roaming on her body and reaching her bra-covered breasts. She tried her best to relax, but when his mouth joined where his hand was a second before and started to lavish a part she never let anyone touch less kiss, while his left hand was slowly making her way inside her pants, she bolted to the bathroom and locked the door, leaving a confused and very horny Logan behind.

She washed her face with cold water, trying to calm the furious beats of her heart and the feeling of fear coursing through her veins. She saw tears in her eyes and she cursed herself. It wasn't anything to cry about. It was just intercourse, everybody did it and enjoyed it. She could do it too. She was a soldier for Manticore's sakes. She would open her legs and think about something else. Once again she cursed her stupid pride who stopped her to be a less perfect soldier. Maybe if she had failed one or two missions, she wouldn't be here today, she wouldn't have to copulate with her 'husband', a man she despised and who bored her to tears, while the only idea of him touching her hand made her want to puke her intestines on his five-hundred dollars leather shoes.

"Amy? Are you okay in here?"

She snorted, but managed to reply to him: "Yes, Logan, I just need a minute or so."

She opened the bathroom cupboard and took the 'alimentary complement' bottle. In the bottom of the container, beneath the pills, was a plastic bag with white powder. She quickly blended the powder and some water, then put the mixture into a syringe and injected herself. X-series were designed to be immune to all known drugs, but she had managed to find a dosage, which would make her lightheaded and less conscious of her surroundings. She hoped it would be enough for her mind to bear the next of the evening.

After hiding the syringe and casting a last glance at the mirror to be sure she didn't look as miserable as she felt, Max opened the door to find Logan waiting for her with two glasses of wine. That was Logan Cale for you, if your wife is nervous to sleep with you, give her some wine to relax her. And if making her drunk fails, what's next, put some GHB in her pasta? But Max didn't mind the wine, and swallowed the whole glass.

"Sorry, nervous," she explained with a tiny smile.

"It's okay, honey. Why wouldn't we go in the bedroom, to be more comfortable?"

"Sure…"

"You know I love you and would never hurt you, right?" He told her, while sitting next to her on the bed.

"Right," she managed, hoping the drug would quickly start to kick in.

As he was leaning her on the bed, softly kissing her neck and opening her shirt, Max's wish was fulfilled. She was slowly disconnecting her mind from her body; it was like looking at someone else body.

Logan was kissing the most beautiful girl on earth and the thought alone was almost enough for him to come right there, but he wanted to taste her skin, to stroke her perfect breasts, to feel her heated skin against his, to discover how perfect she would be for him. So he restrained himself, as he was slowly undressing her. She wasn't really participating, but he didn't care, so far it was exactly what he wanted and probably the best he ever had. He loved being in control and she obviously didn't mind if she was just a puppet between his expert hands.

She was now naked in front of him and he took his time to look at her, to see what flaws she hid under her clothes, but he found none. She truly was perfect. He kissed her again, plunging his tongue in her mouth, tasting her with more passion than ever. She was exquisite. Then he went lower, laving one nipple with his hungry tongue while his hand kneaded her other breast. His very willing and ready cock was bumping against her thigh, manifesting its impatience, so his free hand started its descent towards her center. He was a bit surprised to find so little humidity there, but he had the perfect solution. His mouth quickly reached his hand and he began to lavish her soft flesh, laving, licking and biting her inner lips. A jerk of her hips told him she was as ready as she would ever be, and he slid inside her. Oh fuck! She was so tight around him, it was like a glove, a soft and perfect glove. God, he was in heaven. For now on, he couldn't be held responsible for his actions; it felt so good. He started to hump and within thirty seconds, he was gone, collapsing on her. So, okay, it wasn't a record, at least not his best, but it had been so perfect.

As soon as he disentangled from her, Max rolled on her side, still feeling anywhere but here, no thanks to his pitiable demonstration, but to the drug. She waited till he was deeply asleep, before leaving the bed and reaching the bathroom.

Under the hot water washing her stained body, she slowly came back to her senses, the drug kicking off, and she couldn't stop the tears to flow down on her cheeks.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N:** So? Love? Hate? Review?

The last scene was quite hard for me to write, and that's why it's a part in Logan's POV (sort of), I couldn't do it other way.


	9. Seizing the opportunity

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing**: M/A eventually

**Rating:** R or less. I'm not sure.

**Setting:** AU, after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters. And I don't own any Pharmatech in the world, it's a fictional place. Same goes for Serotop's name.

**A/N:** Here is the next chapter. And Max's life will slowly be getting better.

I hope you will like it.

I'm sad I didn't have so many reviews this time. Sniff, sniff… The last chapter has only been hit 172 times. I'm fishing for reviews, yes, I pled guilty. ;-)

But anyway thanks to anyone who read this fic.

**Bella1992**: thank you. I hope the last scene of this chapter will please you.

**X5-549**: LOL Thank you so much for your review, it made me burst out laughing. And yeah, I share your opinion.

**Vampiress-06**: I'm sorry it wasn't good enough for you.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Seizing the opportunity**

Everybody gasped at the sight of Jonas Cale falling from his chair, his head crimson, and his body convulsing. Who would have known that the CEO of Cale Industries was allergic to pineapple? Surely not him. When the only doctor present in the room rushed at his side, it was to say that it was too late. The young man tried his best, but the result of the allergy had been a striking down apoplexy and there was nothing he could have done. Then he presented his condolences to the family, the widow and the now new CEO.

Before everybody left the desolate family alone, the young doctor gave an imperceptible nod at the youngest Mrs. Cale, a nod she returned just as imperceptibly. Then X5-511, also known as Biggs, or for this evening as Intern Damian Bertow, left. He had accomplished his part of this mission and he was glad to have been able to see his friend, even if it was just for a second. It has been eight months since the last time he had seen her. Since that day, a lot of things had happened to their unit and he knew that knowing nothing of it was probably killing Max.

†††††††††††††††††††

The funeral had been held four days ago, and Max hadn't seen her husband since that day. She knew why; he was the heir, so now he was the new boss and thanks to her patient work on his mind, he was now entirely dedicated to his position at the head of the Cale Industries.

Max didn't mind that he wasn't home; things had been strained between them lately. Logan wanted a family, a big one, with a lot of little blond heads running in the stairs, and of course as Max wasn't pregnant yet, it annoyed him to no end. So he had instated they would try it each night, no matter that Max had worked the whole day – that was another subject of argument between the two, or that she had migraine – the old as the world excuse didn't work well with Logan. The only nights he left her alone were when she had her pretended period, and of course that meant that she wasn't pregnant yet, and that entailed another argument, with Logan asking if she was infertile and for her to do some tests, which she always refused no matter what, telling him that she had no problem and they just needed not to rush things.

Of course she couldn't tell him that it was her heat suppressor, which was making her infertile, and even for the sake of this stupid mission, she didn't want to give him an heir. It was bad enough to have him puffing and grunting in her face each night as he emptied himself inside her. She didn't need a crying miniature Logan as well.

The eve of Jonas' death they had had their biggest dispute. Logan had found her heat suppressor, she still wondered how, and he had made it analyzed, then confronted her, asking her 'why the hell she would take something like that, which would poison her and probably kill forever their chances to have a baby'. Her answer that it was something her doctor had prescribed her hadn't appeased Logan one bit. Luckily, the surprising death of his uncle busied him enough for the last week. Max didn't really know how to deal with him recently, and now she was also wondering when and how she could have another spare dose, because sadly, this mission seemed to have no end.

The front door opened and he entered, with a big bouquet of red roses and an expensive bottle in the hands. Oh great; holidays were over.

"Amy, I'm home!"

Max quickly closed her laptop and stood up to greet him correctly.

"How was your week?"

"Busy. You can't even imagine in which state Jonas left the Industries, there are irregularities everywhere, and… But I don't want to bore you with business. That's for you," he added, giving her the roses, "it had been a while since we had a nice dinner in tête-à-tête."

He quickly opened the bottle and served them both a glass. Faking a smile, Max accepted hers.

"To what occasion do we drink?" she asked him.

"Do we need one?"

"Not specially. I was just wondering if there was one."

"I drink to my beautiful wife," Logan winked at her and started kissing her neck, "that and I booked an appointment with that friend of Carr for you, she's the best specialist in difficult procreation."

"What?" Max stepped back. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't rush things and wait a little more."

Max's tone was glacial.

"Yeah, but that was before we knew your stupid doctor gave you that poison. If we want to have kids someday, we have to be sure your body is in shape." He was kissing her neck again, his hands quickly working on her shirt's buttons.

"My body is perfectly fine, thank you."

"You don't know that, sweetie. There is obviously something wrong if you're not able to get pregnant."

"The only thing wrong with my body is the pressure you put me in. And can you stop groping me when we are in the middle of a discussion?" Max tried to contain her temper and disentangled herself from his embrace.

"Amy," he whined. "Do you want another glass?"

"No, Logan, I don't want another glass. Wine isn't a magical solution for everything, God!"

Logan was looking a bit shocked by Max's outburst.

"But Amy…"

"Goodnight Logan. I'm going to sleep, alone!" Fuming, Max left and reached one of the guest rooms. A few seconds later, she heard him approach, trying to twist the door-handle, before finally deciding it was futile and, instead, knocked against the glass door.

"Amy, darling, please, let me in. I'm sorry I'm just concerned."

"No, you're not concerned Logan. You only want to impregnate me as quickly and often as you can to have a bunch of heirs. But sorry, I'm not interested, so go to bed."

"Amy!"

"Goodnight Logan. Your room is at the other end of the hall, you can't get lost." With that, Max turned the radio on and ignored him. She knew it hadn't gone well, but she couldn't have helped it, she had reached her no-return point. She also knew that tomorrow she would have to apologize for her crazy behavior, beg for forgiveness and open her legs wide again.

Four hours later, she closed her laptop, her stomach grunting. She silently left her room and verified that Logan was deeply asleep. She didn't want another confrontation with him right now. She had still some work to do tonight, her own little secret enterprise was going well, but she had a feeling she would have to secure everything once again. After all, no one could ever know, neither Manticore nor Logan, that she was the one behind Serotop, or she would be in deep trouble. Luckily she had the best of the right-hand women to look after it when she couldn't.

She was making herself a chicken-sandwich when she heard a noise behind.

"What do you want, Logan?" she sighed.

"I'm not Logan, and you should be more prudent, Max." A deeper male voice replied instead of her 'husband' voice.

Max jumped immediately in fighting stance, looking at the blond man in her kitchen.

"Who are you?"

"Nice to see you forgot me, baby sister."

Max blinked an instant, before realizing who it was. "Zack? Oh my god, Zack!" She jumped in his arms. "It's so good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"I saw your picture in a newspaper, last week, recognized you instantly. What do you think you were doing Max? That's exposure. And what's that name, Amy?"

Max looked a bit unsure, not knowing what to say to him.

"I couldn't use Max."

"Why? The man you love is not trustful enough to know your real name or what? You and Tinga, I swear, I don't understand you."

"Tinga? How is she?"

"Mother, happy, and like you completely endangering herself with a husband."

"Zack, I'm not endangering myself."

"No? Your face is on newspapers Max. You married a man who is related with Manticore, how the hell could you be that foolish? It's just a matter of time before Lydecker find you."

Max was a bit annoyed by her brother's assumptions. She would have never been that stupid if she had been free.

"He already found me, years ago actually."

"What?"

"Lydecker found me when I was twelve, and sent me back there."

"So, why are you here? Why are…?" Then suddenly it clicked in Zack's brain. "You're here for them. You're working for them." He said, disgust filling his voice. "He's your cover."

"No, he's my mission."

"So now you do the whore for them." A slap stopped him to add anything. Max was literately fuming!

"Don't you even dare judge me. You know nothing."

"I know that you work for Manticore, and that's enough for me. After everything they did to us, how could you…?"

"Shut up, Zack. As I said before you know nothing."

"But why, Maxie? Why are you still with them? They brainwashed you, right?"

"No, they didn't."

"So, why? You could escape anytime."

"I don't want to escape."

"WHAT? Are you insane?"

"I don't want to escape, I have friends there, friends I don't want to leave behind, and I won't do that to Deck."

"Deck? As in Lydecker? You're not Max, I don't know who you are, but you're not my sister."

"I'm Max. And I don't ask you to understand me. You're the one who came. You can leave. Besides, it's dangerous for you to be here, and you're endangering me. They will know you were here, and if Logan finds you he'll…"

Before she could end her sentence, they both heard a door cracking open and steps in the corridor. "Amy?"

"Great. You need to leave, now!"

As they quickly reached the living room and went towards the door, Logan surprised them, entering the room.

"Amy?" He looked suspiciously at Zack. "Who's that?"

"That's an old friend, honey, who was leaving."

"What is he doing at one in the morning in our apartment?" Logan looked pissed now.

"He wanted to surprise me, and now he's leaving," Max repeated, pushing Zack towards the door. "Good bye, Zack, take care." She was begging him with her eyes to be prudent. Even if they just had a fight, he was still her brother.

"Ma… Amy," he corrected himself. "Come with me."

Logan's eyes bulged, while Max's threw daggers at the X5.

"Are you crazy?! We already discussed that, Zack, and now. It's. Time. For. You. To. Leave."

This time, Zack complied and with a last longing and sad look at his baby sister, he was gone, leaving her to deal with the mess he had created.

As soon as the door was closed, interrogation began.

"Who was that?" Logan ordered with disdain.

"An old friend."

"Why was he here? At this ungodly hour?"

"He wanted to see me. Saw my picture in a newspaper and came. It was a surprise for me too, I haven't seen him in years." She explained tiredly.

"He always comes uninvited?" She could see Logan was still suspicious.

"I don't know, as I said, I haven't seen him in ages."

"And what was he talking about, asking you to come with him?"

"I really don't know. Now, I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

"Amy, we're in the middle of a discussion."

"Not anymore. Good night Logan."

With that, she joined her room and slid into her bed. But sleep never came. Fortuitously, Zack had given her a new opportunity.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

She had needed two days to prepare her disappearance, but now as she rode towards her 'home', Amy Derrick-Cale was no longer. All her belongings was in safety under a name neither Manticore nor Logan could found linked to her, including the jewels her husband had given her during his courtship, and all the papers concerning Serotop, and there was no way Logan, or anybody else for that matter, could be smart enough to find where she had vanished. Even if he discovered her trace, she had taken the precaution of ending the life of Amy Derrick by a car crash in a river, after a fall from a cliff.

She had parked her new possession, a black Ninja, in the woods, close enough to the base that she could always reach it in case of emergency, but not too close in case some unit found it during an exercise, and now she was striding towards the main gate and the guards. She flipped them her barcode.

"X5-452, returning from her mission. I need to see Agent Sandoval or the director Renfro for my report."

"Go ahead, 452, I'll warn her."

Max effortlessly hid her joy to be back, just thinking about the next program. She didn't know what to expect, but she could easily see herself being sent in Psy-Ops again. After all, she had shortened her mission without order.

She quickly reached Renfro's office and knocked at the door.

"Enter!" ordered the cold voice.

"X5-452 reporting, ma'am!"

"452, I'm quite surprised to see you here, I don't remember having ended your mission, do I suffer from memory loss?"

"No, ma'am. I don't think you do, ma'am." Max replied, eyes front and face blank.

"So, maybe you would care to explain to me what the fuck you are doing here?"

"The mission has been compromised, ma'am. I couldn't stay any longer without endangering my cover and the base."

"Compromised? How and when?"

"Logan Cale has recently started to become suspicious, wondering why I still wasn't expecting the heir he's waiting for. And two days ago, X5-599 showed unexpectedly in the middle of the night at our apartment. Unfortunately, Logan Cale didn't really like his presence nor his words. I thought it was tactically clever to disappear before he started asking too much questions and to give him something else to put his mind to. Besides I had achieved all the expectations of my mission. Ma'am."

"X5-599? As your former CO? The traitor?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"What did he want? What did he tell you? Do you know where he is now?"

"He wanted to talk to me, ma'am. He didn't know I was there undercover. He asked me to leave and come with him. And I'm pretty sure he's gone far away from Seattle, now, ma'am."

"I see. I'm glad you came back, soldier. It was the right thing to do."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Agent Sandoval is waiting for you in his office. Dismissed."

Max saluted and left, glad not to see the shadow of Psy-Ops.

†††††††††††††††††††††

After having visited her new cell – apparently the direction had thought that they were too old to still sleep in co-ed dorm, Max went into their deserted rec. room, waiting patiently for her friends to return from the mess hall. She was there for a little less than ten minutes when she heard noise as argument and sighs in the hall.

"Os! That's enough!" She recognized Freya's commanding voice.

"Yeah, just shut up," added an exasperated Sprite.

"Don't tell me what to do, or do I have to remind you of my rank?" Max had never heard Os reply on a so disdainful tone.

"You're only SIC because Max isn't here, and you know that!" This time it was Sun, and you could clearly hear his hostility.

"If Biggs was there, he would have told you where you can shove your attitude too!" Max was surprised to realize it was Gael who had said those harsh words.

"Yeah, but with Biggs and Max on mission, I'm the one in charge so you all will do what I said!"

"Dream on, pretty face!" Bull groaned.

Sable was about to add something when she entered the room and noticing Max, her jaw dropped.

"What?" protested Bull. "Holy shit!"

"Max!" It was a global cry, and all the soldiers but a fuming Os and a silent Foxy ran to her, even Blondie looked happy to see her.

"You couldn't come at a better time," said the blond girl, hugging her.

"It seems so," Max replied, still astonished by the scene she had witnessed. "What's going on here?"

"None of your business," replied Os coldly.

"OS!" Freya warned him.

"What? We all know she will be gone again before the end of the week." Though, that didn't seem to displease him all that much.

"That's where you're wrong, 760. I'm off for all undercover missions for a while. My face is wanted." Max told him formally. She was never the one to use designations, but in the last minutes, Os had succeeded to piss her off. "So, I asked a question. What's going on here? Where are Biggs, Alec, Snake and Jason? And why Os is acting like he's Renfro's new spawn?"

"Biggs and Jason are on mission, they should be back in two days," Bull explained.

"Snake is at the infirmary," added Sable.

"Os is an ass since they named him SIC, he's power's hungry."

"Hey! Sun watch your mouth!"

"Shut up Os!" the whole unit expect Foxy groaned in unison.

"And Alec is probably in the gym, trying to convince someone to spar with him," finished Gael with a concerned face.

"Why?" The quick glances her friends shared fretted Max. "Sun? Sable? Explain! How is he?"

"We're sorry Max, we tried, but he's not the same. He only cares about being Manticore's Top-dog again."

Max's face fell an instant, then she rose to her feet.

"Frey, congrats for the squad run. Foxy, come with me."

She noticed Foxy's uncertain glance towards Os, so she challenged her new SIC to protest. He quickly directed his eyes elsewhere.

"Thanks Max, that means a lot for me…" said Freya.

Everyone was aware that if Max hadn't been in mission or Alec in Psy-Ops at the time of the squad run, it would have been them who would have won, instead of 315, Unit 11's CO and sharer of 314's test tube, and Freya.

As soon as they were out of sight of their unit mates, Max watched her best friend and worried. Foxy had visibly changed, she was no longer an ad for joyfulness and she was avoiding Max's eyes.

"Ok, spill it. What happened to you?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit."

Foxy shrugged and turned her attention on their fellow soldiers who were all surprised, even delighted, to see Max, and saluted her.

"Care to explain that tale Sun told me months ago, and your submission towards Os?"

"What tale?"

"You loving Os."

Once again, Foxy's only reply was a shrug.

Spotting an empty classroom, Max quickly pushed her friend inside, and locked the door.

"Sit. Explain."

"There is nothing to explain," Foxy said reluctantly.

"You're unhappy, there is obviously something, so spill."

Once again, a shrug.

Max sat in front of her.

"Do you love Os?"

Foxy looked away.

"I said, Do. You. Love. Os?!"

Max saw something akin of fear and despair in her friend's eyes.

"Foxy? Please, talk to me. I want to help you. I need to understand."

"I was in heat." The redhead started. Max's hand on hers encouraged her to continue.

"We were on a mission, and my heat wasn't due before two others weeks, but it came anyway. So I slept with him. And then I couldn't even think about Sun without wanting to cry, I betrayed him. I slept with another man, and I let him claim me."

"Os claimed you?"

"Yes, during my heat. I didn't claim him, but he did and he thinks that's enough. Then we came home, and I didn't want to see Sun, I couldn't bear it. I disgusted myself. And then Os, he didn't want me to be near him, so even if I have wanted or could, I couldn't anymore, because he wouldn't have let me."

"I will kill this asshole."

"It's not his fault!"

"HOW! How could that be not his fault?"

"It's his instincts."

"You didn't acknowledge his claim, so his instincts are wrong. He can't dictate your life, Fox."

"I didn't reject his claim, I just didn't claim him."

"It doesn't matter. You're not his mate, therefore he can shove his instincts deep in his ass."

Tears were escaping Foxy's eyes, and Max put her friend in an embrace.

"I know what's it to be with someone you don't love, believe me, I know it, and there is no way in hell that I let that happen to you. I promise."

"But I don't want to create more trouble in the unit."

"Don't worry, there will be no trouble, not yours anyway."

Max wiped her friend's tears and stood up. "What do you think about helping me finding Alec, that I'll see by myself how Psy-Ops screwed him up?"

"Let's go." Foxy said with a tiny but genuine smile.

Minutes later, they were entering the gym and spotted Alec on a mat sparring with 314.

"Ok, that's enough for me, 494!"

"But we just started," protested Alec. "Are you afraid, soldier?"

"I'm not afraid, 494, but everybody knows what the issue will be, and I want to sleep in my own bunk tonight, not in the infirmary." 314 replied coldly, and stepped out the mat.

She noticed the two girls and with a happy smile at the sight of Max, saluted them.

"Hi Foxy, Hi Max." Max hid her surprise to see unit 10's CO using her names.

"Hi Sai, how is he?"

"Annoying and stubborn."

With that she left them. Alec had yet to notice them.

"Did we contaminate them?"

"Huh?"

"The names?"

"Oh, yes. They were jealous, they wanted some too."

"That's great."

"Yeah."

Max felt Alex's eyes on her, but when she turned to look at him, she was confronted to his blank face.

Restraining herself not to run in his arms, she climbed on the mat.

"Hey Alec, how are you?"

"Fine. You, 452?"

His use of her hated designation was like a knife in her heart.

"Fine," she replied as glacial as she could.

"We spar?"

"Why not, I could use a good punching-ball. I have some tension to release."

He snickered and Max sent a punch to his jaw. Oh yes, she hadn't fought in months, but she still was his equal on a mat.

After some punches from each other, they hadn't really started their dance, and even simplified Alec was aware of that fact.

"What are you waiting for, 452? Afraid to break a nail?"

"More afraid to hurt your pretty face, Alec!" She stressed his name.

"Like you could…" he snorted.

"Psy-Ops really did a number on you, didn't they? If they brainwashed you enough for you to believe you have a chance to beat me…"

"You don't know anything about Psy-Ops!" he growled and sent a powerful kick to her stomach.

"Hello? Remember who I am? I spent more time in Psy-Ops duck than the whole facility together. So excuse me but _punch_ I think I know everything about _kick_ Psy-Ops. Especially when they turned my best _kick_ friend into a perfect automaton."

Alec was sent flying on the other end of the mat and Max resumed. "You know I wanted to kill her."

"Too late", he replied with a kick around her legs and without an ounce of emotion.

"I really did," Max continued as he hadn't interrupted her. "But when I saw her on her hospital bed, even if I hated her, I couldn't do it. Do you know why?" Alec didn't reply, the words hospital bed making their way in his fogged brain.

"Because my best friend had _punch_ been stupid enough to fall for her _punch_ inane charms, and screw up his mission. _punch_ And by doing that, _punch _he left me alone, _punch_ there, he abandoned me, _punch _when he has sworn _punch _that he would always be _punch_ there for me. _punch_ You betrayed me. _punch_ You _punch_ left _punch _me _punch _alone, _punch_ with Him!" Alec had stopped fighting, although Max was still punching his chest fiercely, tears streaming down her face, before she finally collapsed on the mat, bursting into uncontrollable sobs.

Naturally his arms went around her, his head against hers, and he hugged her. His eyes were wide, and a tear was falling along his cheek. "I'm sorry, Maxie." He whispered only to her to hear him.

Five feet away, Foxy was looking at the pair, mouth agape.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N **: So? Love? Hate? Review!!!! ;-)


	10. Memoria Lane

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing**: M/A eventually

**Rating:** R or less. I'm not sure.

**Setting:** AU, after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N:** Here is the new chapter. And after seeing Zack in 'Seizing the opportunity', Max will see another sibling. Any, idea anyone? No, ok. You'll see.

I didn't want this chapter to be a cliché, and I hope I managed to avoid that. Please tell me what you thought.

Thank you so much for your reviews, it really made my days.

**Bella1992, indusgirl1313, Alibeth25, hsloanx16, Laney Tate, samiami, THEUNTRESS06, The Labyrinths Scribe, justin, X5-549, HikaruOfDreams, Fashiongurl3188, Sliver of Melody**: thank you so much, and I hope you'll like this update.

For everyone who put this fanfic in their favourites, their story alerts, or me in their favourite authors or author alerts, thank you so much.

Thanks again to my beta-reader Izzy, who, despite being sick, tried to help me with this chapter.

Oh, and if any of you wants to see how the members of Unit 8 look (at least in my mind), go to my bio page and you'll find the links.

I'm actually working on the 12th chapter, and I think there will be only one after. So this fic is almost finished.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Memoria Lane**

A few months had passed since Max had come back from her mission to find her unit divided and her best friend the shadow of himself. Now everything was slowly getting better. It was unofficial, but since Biggs return, Max was his SIC, taking Os' place and appeasing her unit mates. Even Os had ceased complaining, finally realizing once his head cleaned, that he wasn't the best SIC his unit deserved and that he preferred when his friends were his friends, not his subordinates and didn't despise him. He even had stopped his caveman behavior towards Foxy. When he had come home after a short away mission, he had been confronted with the sight of his wanted mate all chummy again with Sun, and Max had prevented him to beat his rival by fighting him until he realized that he had no right over Foxy's life. It had been a painful experience as much as for his body as for his pride, but Os had finally regained his senses and backed off to nurse his wounded ego.

Now unit 8 was the closest of how it had been before all hell broke loose, with the exception of its former CO who was still not completely himself. Since Max's return, Alec had gradually awoken from his lethargic state, but it was a really slow process.

Today had been an uneventful day; boring lessons, usual sparring sessions, grumpy rarely-satisfied trainers, nasty mess food, and usual sickening Blondie and CB's PDA sessions. Sprite and Puck were away, so there had been no pranks, and, thus, the remaining members of Unit 8 were bored out of their minds. They craved to be sent anywhere to do anything.

Suddenly a guard entered their rec. room.

"452, you're wanted in Lydecker's office."

"Coming…" Taking her time, Max rose from her armchair and, yawning, followed the guard.

"Have fun!" Gael wished her sarcastically.

"When did the Colonel arrive?" Max asked the guard.

"Twenty minutes ago, and he asked for you immediately. What did you do?"

"Nothing." Max sighed, wishing she could have done something, at least she wouldn't be that bored, and the guard stifled a laugh. 452 was well known in the facility to be one of their best soldiers, if not the best, and she was rarely one to create trouble. Of course, she covered for her fellows soldiers, knowing that the guards would be more inclined to close their eyes if it was her who took the blame, but she also made sure that the troubles weren't too much to handle and that the pranksters remained reasonable, in a X5 point of view, and the guards liked her for that. It was easier for them if the kids, who were far from being kids anymore, didn't see them as the enemy. Sure they weren't best buddies, and nobody wanted that, but they succeeded in coexisting almost peacefully now. The guards had enough problems with the younger X-series, especially the X6s who had reached theirs teens and were more undisciplined than ever.

"And you didn't think about informing me? I'm the one in charge of the 09ers, not you, Elizabeth! You can be sure I'll inform the committee about your omission and your stupid way to treat it. And don't think I'll forget 452's case. Dismissed!" Lydecker roared in his office, obviously pissed out of his mind.

"Donald," protested the outraged voice of Renfro.

"OUT!"

A red and fuming blond peroxided witch burst out of Lydecker's office and almost ran into the guard and Max who were waiting at the door.

"Out of my way!"

Max and the guard tried their best to keep their face devoid of emotions, but the corner of their mouths were curving and their eyes were laughing. Finally Max knocked at the door, trying to retain her composure.

"Enter!" ordered the harsh voice of a furious Lydecker. His face softened as soon as he noticed Max at his door.

"X5-452 reporting as ordered, sir." Max said formally.

"I see the neighborhood of Renfro doesn't do you any good, Max. But she's not here, so you can drop the formality."

Max smiled and Lydecker gestured her to take a seat.

"How are you, Max? It has been how long since our last meeting? Fourteen months?"

"Nineteen, Deck."

"Oh? I'm sorry, I didn't intend to leave you for so long."

"It's okay, I have been pretty busy too."

"I know," his voice was a bit colder. "I read the reports. Congratulation, it's a sans fault, but I can't say I'm surprised, I always had faith in you."

"Thank you." Max smiled genuinely; Lydecker's praises meant a lot for her. He was the only ordinary she cared about the judgment of.

He smiled too, but his smile quickly vanished for a concerned and sad expression.

"I'm sorry, Max."

"For?"

"Your last mission. I didn't know; I would have, I would never have let you there."

"It was just a mission, nothing more, and it's over now." Max replied in soldier fashion.

"I know, but I'm still sorry. For now on, I will approve first every mission they want to send you."

"Thank you, D."

He pressed affectionately her hand and smiled at her.

"So, how are you? And how are your unit?"

"I'm fine, and we are bored. It has been three weeks since our last mission, and even this mission wasn't that interesting. We're slowly turning into lions in a cage."

"Appropriate analogy… I have something for you. That's one of the reasons I wanted to see you. I would like you to assemble a team for a convey mission."

"How many soldiers?"

"Ten."

"Who do you want for CO?"

"That's my problem. I would like you to be the CO, but I can't really ask you to be part of this mission."

"Why?" Max didn't hide her disappointment; she wanted to be out of this place, even if it was for a day and for carrying garbage.

"The mission would be to bring back an X5 here, from another facility, more precisely the Wyoming facility."

"Oh… Why do you want ten soldiers for an X5?"

"The X5's designation is 734, your sister Brin."

Max slowly swallowed the new information, Lydecker had, one day, promised her she would never have to put a foot in there again, but it concerned her sister, her sister who was in that hellhole.

"Why is she there? Why there?"

"Your sister was sick, dying of progeria, and it's our only facility with the ways to treat her. Now she's cured and in the middle of her re-indoctrination, but even if Backer is no longer director and the place has changed, I don't want her to stay there. That's why I want a unit to convey her here."

"It's just conveyance, right? We wouldn't have to stay there too long?"

"The minimum, 24 hours maximum. My words."

"I'll do it."

"Great. Who do you think about?"

"I want Alec as my SIC."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent. Foxy, Sun, CB, Os, Sable, Gael, Blondie, and I need someone else, because the others are away."

"Pick one."

"Milan, X5-247 from unit 11."

"Why him?"

"He's smart and almost as strong as Bull, and he was complaining today that it has been two months since his last mission."

"Do you trust him?" The colonel was perplex, after all this kid was the twin of unit 3's SIC, one of Max's tormentors and rapists.

"Yes, we already had several missions with unit 11, and Milan is a nice guy. He took a bullet for Freya last time." Which was the reason he has been out of active duty till recently.

"If you trust him, it's okay with me. I want 734 here at the end of the week, I leave you all latitude for the mission parameters."

"Thank you Deck."

Max rose to her feet, and turned to leave.

"Oh Max, before I forget, you probably be happy to know that Renfro managed to lose our only lead to Zack, and that Zane is alive even if he succeeded in escaping our radar."

Max didn't bother to hide her smile. She was happy here, but that didn't mean she wanted Lydecker to bring back all her family, and he was perfectly aware of that fact. She wouldn't interfere with him, but he knew it was futile to ask her for help. He also knew that despite the appearances, she was the best choice to escort 734, she would assure the security of her sister and probably share her opinion of Manticore with her. And if Brin saw how happy Max was, maybe it would help to convince her that they weren't so bad.

†††

Two days later, two hummers were traversing the city of Gillette, Wyoming. Max, Alec, Foxy, Sun and Sable were in the first, the others in the second. They were chatting and laughing, simply enjoying their trip. It was an easy mission, and they didn't expect any trouble or not before the return. Max had warned them, that maybe Brin would want to escape, or that one of her family would show up and try to free her, but the last possibility was doubtful. Nobody, except Lydecker and the team, knew about the transfer, and the 09ers usually didn't stay in sight of Manticore facilities. Max was happy at the idea to see her sister again, after all those years, but the closer they came from the Wyoming base, the tenser she became, and that didn't escape her friend's attention. They all knew this place had been a living hell for her, even if only Alec knew how much. Noticing her discomfort, Alec put his arm around her shoulders and held her close, while Sable pressed her hand, and Foxy tried to soothe her with funny jokes.

The entrance came in sight, and the guards stopped their vehicles. Sun showed them their authorizations.

"We are here for a transfer," explained Sun.

"There is no transfer scheduled today."

"The order is from Colonel Lydecker, so open the door and call your director."

Grumbling, the guards complied and left the two trunks entered the base.

"Too easy," noticed Alec. "Anybody can come and leave with those buffoons and there are supposed to assure the security of this base, let me laugh."

"Renfro is a bitch, but at least, our gates are secure," added Sable.

"It's not like the soldiers here would try to escape, if I remember correctly, and we all know I unfortunately do, they're too brainwashed to even think about it."

"Will you be okay, Maxie?"

"Don't worry, Alec. I'm a big girl, I survived two years in here, I'm not afraid of a day inside those fences."

Before they open the door and step outside, they quickly gave her an unexpected group hug.

When director Maiden left his office to meet the unexpected visitors, she glanced at her surrounding, her soldiers were presentable, their fatigues impeccable, and the guards were at their posts. Perfect. She didn't want the visitors to report to the Colonel that her facility was a mess. She was glad he had given her a chance, and she didn't want to disappoint him or leave him believe he had made a mistake in naming her here.

But when she was confronted to the sight of his envoys, she had to say she was a bit confounded. They weren't standing at attention, their face weren't blank and their eyes weren't upfront. Instead, they were all grouped around one of them, a pretty brunette. One of the guys had his arm around her, and she was leaning against him. Two other 'couples' looked as comfy and chummy and the ones who weren't leaning against the hummer were sat on its top or its hood in very relaxed positions. Their fatigues looked fatigued; they were crinkled and torn. Two guys were shirtless and a blond girl had shortened her t-shirt with a knot so it showed her belly button, which was ornamented with a flashy gem. They were laughing, listening to the story the short redhead with bright blue locks was telling.

Maiden came closer but they didn't stop nor stand at attention, no, they didn't acknowledge her presence.

"Hum humm," she finally said. The pretty brunette looked at her and left the embrace of her guy.

"You're the director Maiden?"

"Yes. Who is X5-452?"

"I'm Max, I'm in charge of this transfer. We would like to leave immediately, so if you can ask for 734 to come here, it would be really nice." Never ever a soldier had talked to her with such a tone; it wasn't polite, it was sarcastic, and the pretty girl looked like she was used not to be discussed.

"I'm afraid you will have to wait a little more," replied Maiden between gritted teeth. She was the director here, not some stupid civilian. Who did this girl think she was?

"For which reason?"

"734 is in the middle of a Psy-Ops session that we can't interrupt."

At the mention of Psy-Ops, Maiden could have sworn she had seen a flash of hatred in the girl's eyes as her posture went rigid.

"And when would she be released, ma'am?" The guy the brunette had looked pretty cozy with intervened. "We have a tight schedule to respect."

"In three or four hours."

"Thank you, ma'am." With that he put his hand on the brunette arm, and walked towards his original place, followed by the girl who had dismissed Maiden like no one had ever dared.

†††

"So that's the place?" asked Gael, a little later.

"Yep," Max replied, snuggling more into Alec's embrace.

"Charming."

"Oh you have no idea."

"What happened to your old unit, Max?" Milan asked, he was the only one who didn't know the whole story, and as he saw Max's face pale and the others tense, he regretted he had ever asked this question.

"I don't know. Deck just told me he took care of them, for all that means."

"Do you see any of them?" Os gestured to the training field were some units were sparring.

"No… Why?"

"Because. I would love to have a little chat with them."

"Don't bother. You will be bored to death."

Foxy and Alec sniggered, and Alec kissed Max's hair.

A group of three girls left a building nearby and glanced at them.

"Hum… pretty," said Os.

"And ditzy," added Blondie, making everyone laugh, as the blond girl was often the one receiving this compliment.

"Hi," said one of the girls, who had come closer.

"Hi," replied Os with the same flirtatious tone.

"What are you doing here? Have you transferred from another place?" She asked hopefully.

"Why would we want to do that?" replied Sable with disdain.

The girl didn't know what to reply and another girl, with blond curled locks stepped in. "What's your problem?"

"You, Goldilocks, you and your whole facility of sadistic puppets."

Noticing that Max had tensed when the girl had come closer, Alec looked at her and suddenly, recognition hit him, his face turned blank and his eyes burned through the girl with hatred.

"Leave!" He ordered them coldly.

The three girls looked at him astonished.

"I said, Leave!" He slowly rose to his feet, and the girls couldn't help but step back.

"Why? It's our facility, we have all rights to be there," said the third girl.

"Because she's a remainder of Unit 3, and if she doesn't leave now, in one minute, she will be dead."

Goldilocks snorted, but soon she was encircled by Foxy, Sun, Sable and Gael. Pure hatred was readable in their eyes as they came closer to her.

"Leave!" Foxy repeated Alec's order, and this time they complied.

Then like nothing had happened, the five soldiers returned to their previous positions.

One hour later, Os stood up.

"Who wants to take a walk? Max?"

"To Memoria Lane?" She looked at him, disbelievingly.

"Why not? What better way to move on that to confront your past."

Max thought about it a moment, then turned towards Alec. "You'll come?"

"Like I would ever leave you alone here."

Soon, Milan and Sun had joined them to wander through the facility, while the others remained at their place, sunbathing.

Alec had still his arm around Max's shoulders and the five of them were chatting, walking like they have no worry in the world and owned the place, at least the guys did that, while Max tried her best to relax. She hated this place with a passion. But there, surrounded by her friends and in Alec's embrace, it wasn't so bad.

"That's a shame…"

"What's a shame Os?"

"That they are zombies. Look at the girls, they're pretty."

"What did do expect? They're Manticore, like us. They don't do ugly."

"Yep, but still a shame."

Max smiled and slapped him behind the head. Then she noticed that Milan looked annoyed.

"What's wrong, Mil?"

"They kept glancing at me with astonished faces."

"It has probably something to do with your twin."

"I have a twin?"

"Unfortunately. 248. But don't hope anything, he's a mean bastard."

"You know him?"

"He was my SIC, and even Renfro is an angel compared to him."

"Nice…" Milan said acerb. Than after a minute or so, he resumed. "Can I ask you something, Max?"

"Maybe."

"Why did they transfer you?"

"Because there is a God somewhere who took me in pity."

They had arrived in front of the infirmary.

"Why are we here, Max?" asked Os.

"You'll see."

Max entered and looked for a familiar person. Then she spotted her, sipping her tea, and walked towards her.

"Nurse Phillips?"

"Yes?"

"You don't remember me? Your most recurrent patient."

The nurse looked attentively at the young woman in front of her and smiled, when recognition hit her.

"452. It has been a while."

"Yep."

"You look good."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"What are you doing here? They didn't transfer you again?" She asked alarmed.

"They wouldn't dare. No, we are for the transfer of X5-734."

"Oh, yes, the other 09er. That's good."

"Is she okay?"

"She's cured."

"Mentally? Did they…?"

"She's not completely brainwashed for now, if it's what you mean?"

"Thank you. And thanks for taking care of me then."

"You're welcome. I wish I could have been a better help."

On their walk to return to the cars, they noticed everyone looking at them and whispering. Someone had probably found out who she was and spread the rumor.

"So, how was Memoria Lane?" Foxy asked Max.

"Not so scary anymore."

"We found out what happened to unit 3, Max," added Gael.

"Oh… What?"

"6 months of 'special treatment', five boys and two girls never returned, and the others have been simplified and placed in other units."

"They lost seven soldiers there?" Milan was amazed, and the others looked satisfied.

"And three of the remainders have been KIA."

"Deck was right; he took care of them," concluded Alec. Max only shrugged. It wasn't like she cared what happened to them.

††††††††

They finally ended it. Another day of torture was over, or so she hoped. X5-734 slowly stood up, no, not 734, she wasn't a number, she was Brin, she couldn't lose her name and forget. No, she had to fight them more and remember. She knew she was back to be a soldier again, she wasn't okay with that, but it had been their deal, they would cure her and she would work for them again, but even if she was a soldier, she didn't want to be the automaton they dreamed of. She had seen the world, the actual world and tasted freedom. Of course, her life outside the walls of Manticore hadn't been easy and some days when everything went wrong, she had even dreamed of the mess food and the security her unit gave her. But her unit was no more, Zack had forced them to separate and retrospectively, Brin wasn't so sure they would have escaped if they had known what expected them outside. She didn't regret anything, but she wasn't as desolate as she had thought she would be to be back here. Now if the inhabitants of this place would stop giving her the bad eye, it would be way better.

She followed the guard, thinking he would bring her to her isolated cell, and was surprised when he didn't take the road to Iso. She saw the soldiers on her way looking at her with the usual disgust in their eyes and whispering some nice things as "filth", "traitor", "trash", and on and on.

Keeping her face blank, her eyes front and her walk assured, she reached the end of the training field were a unit were fooling around ( Oo ) and the director was waiting for her. As a guard chained her hands behind her back, Maiden gave a girl a paper to sign.

"She's yours."

"Thanks," the girl said sarcastically and gave Brin a huge smile. "Are you ready?"

Too stunned that the girl had asked her opinion, Brin simply nodded and followed her in the first hummer.

They quickly left the base and the girl who seemed to be in charge and who reminded Brin of someone let escape a breath.

"You okay?" asked the boy who looked a lot like Ben should now. But Ben was in Texas, last time she had heard of him, and he wouldn't have for sure re-enrolled in Manticore.

"Yeah, thanks Alec. It's better now that hell is behind us." The brunette replied then turned towards Brin. "How are you?"

"Chained." Brin couldn't help but retort, and the girl chuckled, followed by the others.

"I love her already," said a redhead.

"Foxy, I'm crushed," joked the blond Adonis, and the redhead gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then punched him softly on the chest. "Don't whine Sun, it's not polite."

Brin raised her eyebrows. Alec, Foxy, Sun; that sounded a lot like names.

"Questions, Brin?" The brunette asked her with a warm smile. And she knew her name as well… Did she think weird?

"Where are we going and who are you?"

"In a better place than that this hellhole, and we are X5, like you. What? We don't look like?" Foxy replied before the brunette could. "I mean, we're all drop-dead gorgeous and smart, what else should we be?"

"Fox, don't imitate Alec, would you?" The brunette smirked and her neighbor looked outraged.

"Max, come on, she's not even close."

"Max?" Brin choked.

"Hello to you too, big sister." Max was smiling, her eyes gleaming, and Brin was stunned silent.

"What are you doing here Max?" She finally succeeded to ask when her mouth and brain worked together again.

"Transferring you to another facility."

"Is that some sick joke?"

"Nope," Max replied simply, not knowing what reaction to expect from her sister.

"Why are you in Manticore?"

"Because Lydecker found me when I was twelve and hiding in Sacramento, he brought me back, and now here I am."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's a lot better now. I used to regret my freedom at first, but since Deck transferred me where we are transferring you, I don't have to complain."

Brin looked skeptical and Max couldn't help but laugh, and suddenly she did the thing she had wanted to do as soon as she had seen Brin, she hugged her.

"Deck? You gave Lydecker a pet name?"

"And she even uses it with him," added Alec. "But don't even dare imitate her."

"I'm pretty sure Deck wouldn't mind Brin calling him like that. After all, we were unit 2."

"Doubtful, you always were his favorite," mumbled Brin. "Beside, I don't think I'm enough brainwashed to be friendly with him."

"I'm not brainwashed, Brin." Max replied a bit colder. "It's just that I trust him, he's an asshole, sure, but he would never hurt me, by any way."

"That's why he sent you to convey me. Yeah, that's really nice of him, forcing you to be the one to stop me to escape."

"Do you want to?" Alec cut her off.

"Not the point."

"Listen, Brin," Alec resumed, stressing her name, "Lydecker is currently doing you a favor, two actually."

Brin snorted.

"First, he transfers you from the hellhole the Wyoming facility is, where it would be easier for Manticore to transform you into a perfect little zombie. Secondly, he asked Max to organize your transfer, not anybody, but Max who is the crème de la crème and is used to missions of better importance than a simple conveyance, not only for your safety, but also for you to catch up with your long lost sister. But if you want to be an ass, be my guest, just stop bitching around, I don't want you to upset Max. She doesn't deserve it."

Max gave Alec a little squeeze on his arm to let him know she was okay and grateful.

Not knowing what to retort, Brin stayed silent.

"Alpha 1 to Beta 1, how is everything going?" Sun asked in the intercom, and Os replied.

"Could someone order Blondie and CB to stop making out, it's starting to make me sick?"

They snickered.

"Other than that Os?"

"Other than I want to puke, everything is fine."

"Frustrated!" yelled Blondie behind.

"Yes, I am, so what? It's not like the single girls here are interested, they made it pretty clear."

"Poor baby," teased Milan.

"Milan, back off. I don't swing that way."

The two cars were filled with laughter.

"Oh, I know. Max, is your sister single?"

"OS!" Max warned him.

"What? I'm just asking. I'm fun and maybe she would want a bit of fun."

"What bit?" Foxy asked suggestively.

"All right, all right everybody. We stop this oh so interesting discussion there or do I have to remind you that the intercom is recorded." Max said.

"Sorry, ma'am," replied the five users of the second vehicle in unison.

The radio turned silent and Max relaxed in Alec's embrace.

"That's your unit?" Brin finally asked.

"Yep, part of it, except Milan who is from unit 11."

"And you're the CO?" Brin was still a bit surprised that her sister was the perfect Manticorian soldier.

"Of this mission, yes. Our actual CO is Biggs and he's with the remaindings of our unit in another mission. Os is our SIC."

The fours others soldiers snorted.

"What Max forgot to tell you, Brin," protested Sable, "is that she's actually our SIC, but it's unofficial."

"Why?"

"Because the bitch had named Os to be SIC when Max was away, and Os not being the ass he could be, had finally abdicated his title when she had returned."

"The bitch?"

"Renfro, our director. Don't worry, you will meet her, and hate her, as the whole facility do."

"I can't wait," Brin said sarcastically, then she turned towards her sister again. "You gave them names?"

Max smiled. "With Foxy, at first, now, they don't need us anymore."

"Yeah, and it's probably better. Who wants to be named Dummy, anyway?" Alec teased Max, and she slapped his arm playfully, with a mock-outraged face.

"Shut-up, Dicky. Beside, I heard some X6 who named themselves Clytemnestre, Tartuffe and Arpagon. What's that?"

"Moliere's characters," replied Sable, then added when she noticed that they didn't understand, "Moliere was a French dramaturge during the seventeenth century and those are the names of some of his characters."

They all nodded; that made sense, even if there were still really weird names.

Noticing how Max looked comfortable in Alec's embrace, Brin resumed. "Are you two together?"

Foxy and Sable chuckled, while Max simply shook her head. "No, he's my best friend."

"You remind me of someone," Brin told Alec.

"My twin, your brother Ben, right?" That explained a lot.

"Yep."

"How is he?" Max asked.

Brin was reluctant to talk about them, after all they were free, and she didn't want Manticore to find them.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Deck. I may not hate him, but I prefer my family far away from his claws."

"I hadn't see Ben in years, but last time, he was okay. Zack makes sure that we all are."

"I saw Zack four months ago, in Seattle. He was pissed off that I didn't want to evade again."

"Figures." And for the first time in a month, Brin genuinely smiled.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N **: So? Love? Hate? Review!!!

Questions or requests anyone?


	11. 09er Trouble

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing**: M/A undertones

**Rating:** R or less. I'm not sure yet.

**Setting:** AU, after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N:** Here is the new chapter and another 09er reunion is scheduled. Hope you won't mind.

;-)

Thanks for everyone who read this story and took the time to review it, or to add it on his alert list or fav list. It means a lot to me.

**Fashiongirl3188**: lol, thanks and sorry for the time I took.

**Maria Gonzales**: I'm glad you had fun reading it.

**SexyInu**: I think you will have one of your answers in this chapter. And yes I plan to show another member of her old unit, but I think that after this one, I'll stop. We can't have every 09ers back in Manticore, can we?

**Sliver of Melody**: Thanks for all those pretty words you thought about. I heard them

**Bella1992**: Thank you, I know it's not the usual MA story, but I'm trying not to be a walking cliché. I hope you'll like theirs moments.

**Vampiress-06**: Thank you very much.

**Lady Marauder**: Thx and I hope you will like the update as well.

**Jo Harvelle**: As I said to Bella1992, it's not the classic MA story. ;) But I working on it. I hope I would be able to write a nice happy ending for our favorite couple (I'm just not quite sure how to do that).

**The Blind Apprentice**: thank you really much for your support. I'm glad someone else like 'my' Deck.

**Crazy4Cocopuffs**: It's okay and all right. I do it too, not wanting to interrupt the flow. It was nice reviewing. Hope you'll like this update.

Okay people, it's probably one of the last chapters of this fic. I'm working on the next one, and I think there will be only another after. It's just going to take some time, but don't worry, I will end this fic.

Remember, there is a link to see Unit 8's faces on my profile.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**09er trouble**

Unit 8 and 10 were training in the woods, once again paired by trainer Hollander, who seemed to think those two units worked well together, or against each other. Today the exercise was fun, and not the usual Manticore fun, but really fun, with everyone enjoying jumping in the mud or climbing up trees. There was a reason for that. This morning Hollander had awoken from a weird dream with the idea "treasure hunt" in mind and now the two units were racing each other to find the most artifacts in the minimum of time.

Meanwhile, the X7's who assured the security of the woods were surprised to see their elders laughing and beaming. Not an everyday occurrence there.

Max finally grasped the item which was well and deeply hidden inside a fox's lair, and then walked away, noticing Sai, unit 10's CO and her sister Brin not far away. Silently she crept away from them. She was glad that they had assigned Brin to unit 10 when they had released her from re-indoctrination; it was an efficient and solid group, and she knew that with the loss of four soldiers in four years, this unit really needed some new blood. Besides; their quarters were close to theirs, so if Brin wanted to see Max she wouldn't have to go far, and Max could easily look after her.

As she reached their rendezvous point, she noticed some struggle at the other end of the clearing, and saw Alec being escorted by two guards who were trying to subdue him.

"Hey! What's the problem, here?" She asked them.

"It's none of your business," a guard she had never seen before coldly replied.

"Yes, it is. We are in the middle of an exercise and if you retrieve Alec, you'll hinder us, and I'm sure trainer Hollander doesn't want his exercise's parameters to be changed without his accord."

"The director wants 494 to be sent in Psy-Ops immediately, I'm sure Hollander could always go and complain to her."

At the word "Psy-ops", Max's face blanched and she understood why Alec was resisting.

"Why?"

"None of your business," replied the first guard, looking a bit irritable.

"Shut up, Karl!" his colleague cut him off. "Sorry 452, he's new. It has something to do with his twin, who went berserk. They want to see if his psychopathy is genetic."

Suddenly Max knocked the first guard out, and held the second in a headlock.

"Sorry, Bart, but I can't let you do that."

"452!" he protested.

"Sorry for the headache, you could tell the bitch that I surprised you. Blame me, she will believe you." With that, she pressed a point behind his neck and he fell unconscious.

"What are you doing, Max?" Alec asked her, aghast.

"Don't worry. I have a plan." She started running, gesturing him to follow her, and after twenty minutes of sprint through the woods, they arrived in front of the remnants of a shed. Max quickly revealed her motorcycle and Alec jumped behind her.

"Where are we going, Max?"

"A safe place, then I'll call Lydecker. I hope for him he's not the one behind that order."

"And if he is?"

"Then we're screwed."

†††††††††††††††††††††††

Alec was in a white room, with a comfy bed, a nice view and a lock at the door. Exactly how he had always imagined a room in a psychiatric clinic would look. But his door wasn't locked; Doctor Connor had told him he was free to wander in the place.

Max was already gone, and Alec was extremely worried for her. He knew what was waiting for her back to the base. After all she had knocked two guards out, disobeyed an order from Renfro, and taken him away from the facility. She risked everything to keep him away from Psy-Ops.

Her plan was simple and not foolproof. Alec would stay here and Connor would examine him, determining if he had psychotic tendency or not, while Max would be back to the base, to call Lydecker and assume her full responsibility. Both Alec and Max knew what that meant, Psy-Ops, and Alec couldn't help but be mad that to save him from such a punishment, she had to endure it herself. But Max hadn't let him protest, and now she was gone.

Two days later, Alec still hadn't received any news from Max, and he was worried beyond intendment. If not Max, Lydecker should have called Connor now.

"Any news?" he asked the doctor when he came for his analysis.

"No. I left a message to Lydecker on his voice-mail, he will call soon."

"I hope so. If we have no news by tomorrow, I'll go back there."

"That would be a stupid move."

"I can't let her endure that for me."

"You couldn't do anything, and she would have endured that for nothing. So you will stay here, until Lydecker or Max comes back."

"You couldn't stop me."

"I know, but what would say Max if she learned that she sacrificed herself for nothing?"

"It's not fair."

"Don't worry, Max is the strongest person I know, she will get through that."

"You don't know Psy-Ops, they play with your mind, they make you wish you're dead, they destroy you slowly but surely. I know, I go there twice, and if not for Max, the last time would have killed me. I don't want her to suffer that."

"She won't. She affronted worse, and now, she had something to fight for. I'm not worried."

Alec looked incredulously at the confident doctor. What was he talking about? Noticing his puzzled face, Connor let escape a laugh.

"They really mess with your minds, if you're not even able to see what's in front of you."

"What?"

"Oh, it's not my job to tell you. You'll find out eventually." He smiled at the young confused soldier. Young love… He sighed, amused, then resumed. "So, what do you think, should we start figuring out if you're susceptible to snap?"

Alec shrugged. That was the reason he was here, wasn't it?

Later that day, miles away from the comfy bed where Alec was currently snoring, someone knocked at the metallic door of a cell.

"Hey, 382?"

Surprised to hear her designation whispered, Foxy opened an eye and walked towards her door.

"Yep?" She recognized the X6 outside her door to be one of Kestrel's unit. "Merlin, right?" She loved the name; she had been the one to suggest it during their common mission last year.

"Right."

"I'm glad to see your remember the name of your godmother," she teased.

"Sorry. Godmother?"

"I named you, right? So that made me your godmother in the Christian religion."

"I'm not a Christian."

"Me neither. So to what do I owe the pleasure of your lovely but tardy visit?"

"Max is in your unit, right?"

"I'm crushed, you remember Max's name, but not mine."

"Save it, Foxy. Are you in Max's unit or not?"

"Yes, I am. What's the matter?"

"I heard the guards said that she's in Psy-Ops."

"WHAT?"

"Foxy, could you quiet a little please; some of us want to sleep here," Freya groaned, two cells away.

"Guys, Max is in Psy-Ops," Foxy repeated audibly, and suddenly all the doors opened and shocked faces appeared in the corridor.

"You're kidding, right?" Gael asked.

"No, Merlin here just came to inform me."

"Since when?" Biggs turned towards the kid.

"Don't know for sure, yesterday I think. I have to go; if the guards find me out of my dorm, I'm good for the pit."

Merlin took off, leaving the fifteen members of Unit 8 to stare at each other and digest the information.

"We can't leave her there," said Sable, the first to break the silence.

"Yes, but what can we do?" continued Biggs.

"I don't know what WE can do, but I'm going to call Lydecker," decided Foxy.

"I'll go with you," Sun added, and Sable and Os followed them without a word.

Soon they were picking the lock of the door of Lydecker's office.

"Do you know how to contact him?" Sable asked Foxy.

"Yes, Alec told me how. There is an emergency number on speed dial." Foxy picked up the phone and pressed the button.

"Alec?" asked the worried and sleepy voice of Lydecker.

"Now, it's Foxy, sir. I mean, X5-382. Alec and Max disappeared during an exercise in the woods, sir, and now, Max is in Psy-Ops, and Alec is still missing."

"When?"

"They disappeared three days ago, and we learnt today that Max is in Psy-Ops, probably since yesterday, sir."

"I'll be here soon. Go back to your cell, Foxy."

"Yes, sir."

Foxy hadn't hung up the phone, when the door burst open and ten guards rushed inside, tasers in hands, followed by Renfro.

"What do we have, here? Some little sneaks who should mind their own business."

Knowing that there was nothing they could do, the four soldiers didn't even try to hide their contempt for the woman in front of them.

"So what?" Sable sniggered. "You will punish us, because we did exactly what we have been ordered to?"

"I never ordered you to break into the colonel's office," Renfro said snidely.

"I never mentioned you, did I? So, now, please either you decide that we are some really bad soldiers and try to punish us, or you tell your puppets to lower their tasers, so that we can go back to our cells, because unlike some people here, some of us have a busy schedule tomorrow."

Behind the girl, three jaws had dropped. Sable had never been the one to defy a superior, but here she was, putting the bitch at her place, and grandiosely with that.

Renfro was utterly chocked and didn't know how to reply, when she noticed some movement outside the door. She quickly turned around to be confronted with the sight of the remainders of unit 8, 10, 11 and soldiers from various others units who were all amassed in the corridor.

"What the fuck is going on here?" She yelled, and the ten guards she had brought with her felt suddenly a lot less confident, and lowered their weapons, not really wanting to battle against fifty X-series.

"Nothing, ma'am," replied Tennessee, the squad's CO and highest ranked X5. "We were just wondering what was delaying 221, 275, 382 and 760."

"You should all be in your cells."

"We will, ma'am. All of us." He challenged Renfro, and she was fuming. She wasn't stupid; she was aware she was confronted to a mutiny and that with her ten stupid guards, she wasn't at the best place.

"Right, 221, 275, 382 and 760 you're free to go."

"Ma'am, it includes 452, too," added Freya, with the same commanding tone that had used Tennessee.

Renfro's face was red, but she hadn't really a choice. She turned towards the guards.

"Release 452 from Psy-Ops."

"If you don't have any objection, some of us will accompany them," resumed Tennessee.

"And some of us will escort you to your apartment," added Freya.

Renfro was livid.

"You have no right…"

"You're not really in position to say anything, Director."

"In martial court, Mutiny means death penalty," she mumbled between gritted teeth.

"But which mutiny?" Sable looked at Renfro and smirked. "Besides, the colonel Lydecker would be here soon, and I'm sure he would be really happy to know what happened here tonight, don't you think, ma'am?"

Every X-series snorted, and Renfro made her way towards her office, only to be stopped by Bull and Milan.

"It's too late to work, now, ma'am. You should go to bed."

Still fuming and escorted by five X5's, Elizabeth Renfro finally reached her place, and she was not that surprised when they confiscated her cell-phone and disconnected every other way of communication.

"Good night, ma'am."

His chopper had landed five minutes ago, and Lydecker was reaching Renfro's floor. He had noticed that the guards looked tense and that some X5's were patrolling the corridors instead of being in their cells, sleeping. Approaching Renfro's door, he noticed two X5's quickly standing at attention.

"What's going on here?" The colonel asked them coldly.

"We are guarding the director in her apartment, sir," replied the blond soldier.

If Lydecker was surprised, he didn't show it and simply frowned.

"Why?!"

"X5-315 ordered it, as a measure of safety while we were waiting for you, sir."

"Where is 315."

Tennessee arrived behind the colonel.

"I'm here, sir."

"315, why do I have the impression that the facility is under the control of the X5's instead of Director Renfro?"

"Because it's currently true, sir."

Lydecker chuckled coldly.

"Do you intend to keep that control, soldier?"

"No, sir. We were just making sure that our soldiers wouldn't be punished for obeying your orders and calling you, while we were waiting for your arrival, sir."

"All right, soldiers. You're all dismissed."

"Yes, sir." The three soldiers saluted and left.

"Oh, and 315."

"Yes, sir?"

"I want 452 to be released from Psy-Ops immediately."

"It's already done, sir."

"Good."

Lydecker entered Renfro's apartment and found the director pacing in her living room. He smirked.

"What did I learn, Elizabeth? You're under house arrest."

"I am not! Where are the X5's?"

"In their cells."

"Good, I want 315 and 467 in Psy-Ops before the sun rise."

"You won't do that."

"Of course, I will."

"No, you won't."

"Can I ask you why, Donald?"

"Because, Elizabeth, 315 and 467 did exactly what they have been taught to do."

"Pardon?"

"You heard me."

"They defied my authority."

"They made sure my orders would be respected."

"Your orders? Which orders? I'm the one in charge, here, Deck!"

"Not for long, Lizzie."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's the truth. The committee isn't satisfied with your results and successive failures lately, and they won't like to learn that you ignored superior orders."

"I surely didn't."

"Of course you did. Do you want a list? You sent 452 in a mission with the order to seduce her target, when you know I forbid it. You decided to find 599 by yourself and didn't tell me that he was in Seattle, when I'm the one in charge of the capture of the 09ers. You put 452 in Psy-Ops although I interdicted it. And today you were about to punish soldiers who were obeying my orders."

"I didn't."

"Because contrary to you, our soldiers know their hierarchy, and stopped you."

"I'm still the one in charge of this facility!"

"And I outrank you, so just shut up!"

Renfro shot daggers at him and Lydecker served himself a glass of whiskey.

"What was your reason to put 452 in Psy-Ops?"

"The minx knocked two guards out, disobeyed my orders and helped 494 to escape."

"Really? And why would 494 have wanted to escape?"

Renfro stayed silent a moment.

"I followed standard procedure. As soon as I received your fax concerning 493's state of mind, I ordered to put 494 in Psy-Ops."

"Since when is that standard procedure, Lizzie?" Lydecker asked, sarcastically. "I'm pretty sure 493 is the first and only X5 who turned psycho, but maybe I'm mistaken. Do you know any other soldiers in his case that I don't know of?"

Renfro looked away.

"Lizzie?"

"No, I don't know."

"I think it will be better in the future if you think a little before taking some stupid decisions like sending one of your best soldiers in Psy-Ops each time it's raining."

"Pardon?"

"I read the rapports about 494. His last time in Psy-Ops pretty messed him up, and we can't afford to lose our best soldiers like that."

"He failed his mission."

"Yes, and he was a ghost when Psy-Ops released him. Now he's starting to act like he did before the Berrisford mission and you want to send him back there. Are you blind or simply stupid?"

Renfro looked outraged.

"Don't worry, from now on, you will have to ask me before sending any soldier in Psy-Ops."

"I for sure won't."

"You will if you want my help in front of the Committee."

Renfro was fuming, but she wasn't stupid enough not to know where her interest resided.

"And as of now, I want Unit 8 under my orders, and only mine."

She nodded, pissed off to lose her best unit, but also glad to be rid of the whole bunch of troublemakers. Maybe without them, the rest of X5's would be easier to handle and never dream again to defy her authority.

"Of course, they will remain here when not in mission."

Or maybe not.

"A last piece of advice, Elizabeth; it would be better for you if you don't try to hide things from me."

The next day, everything looked back to normal, the guards were patrolling, the trainers were ordering and the X-series were training or, for the X7's, making round in the woods. The only exception was the present sixteen soldiers of Unit 8, whom were all waiting for the colonel in a classroom.

They all stood at attention at his entrance.

"At ease, soldiers."

They complied and he took place in front of them.

"First off, I wanted to congratulate you for last night's decision; it wasn't an easy one, but I'm glad you reacted as you did. Secondly, I want you to know that from now on, you're not under director Renfro's authority, but under mine. I want you to report to me and if I wasn't there, you all know where my office is. Finally, I have a mission for you."

Astonishment, awe and happiness were readable in every soldier's eyes.

"All of you have probably heard that 493, Alec's twin, has turned 'psycho'."

Max tensed and Lydecker pinned some pictures of corpses on the wall.

"We have found corpses with his barcode tattooed on their nape and missing their teeth. We need to find him and bring him back; we can't let him continue to kill. 493 needs help, psychological help, and it's our duty to stop him. Max, I know that you don't want to help me to catch him."

"You're right, I don't."

"But your brother is leaving a bloody trail behind him and I will capture him, it's just a matter of time. But if you help me, I can't find him quicker, and be able to save him."

Max snorted.

"We don't know why he does that. Maybe it's genetic, maybe it's not. But if we're not able to attest that it's not genetic quickly, the Committee won't take a chance, and I won't have another choice but send Alec in Psy-Ops."

Max was distressed; she understood what Lydecker was doing. It was either Ben or Alec. She had to choose between her brother and her best friend, one that Manticore had already made crazy and one that Manticore would if she let them.

She didn't have to look at her friends to know that for them the choice was already made; they didn't know Ben and loved Alec. But could she really betray her brother?

"What will you do to him?"

"I don't know yet; it will depend of his state of mind. He will be studied and treated. He will be re-indoctrinated and sent in another unit, and of course watched closely. But I'm pretty confident we will able to cure him."

"I want your word that you won't send Alec in Psy-Ops."

Even if they were aware of Max's close relationship with Lydecker, the rest of her unit were still in awe to see her arguement with the Colonel.

"I can't do that, Max. If it's genetic, we…"

"It's not genetic, Deck! I know Alec and Ben; they're completely different. The reason why Ben is killing it's because of you, of Manticore, of what you did to his mind in Psy-Ops! He wants answers, but he can't find them. You never gave us answers, we didn't deserve them, so Ben is looking for them elsewhere, in the only 'person' he trusts, the one who is supposed to look after us. His killings are only offering."

No soldiers seemed to understand her reasoning, but Lydecker did.

"Help me, Max, and we will help him, I promise."

"I want time with him."

"Accorded."

"All right, I'll do it," she sighed and her friends relaxed.

††††††††††††

They were all moving silently. They were far too much for this mission, but Lydecker hadn't wanted to take any risks. Even if it was only one X5, he was desperate and the Colonel didn't want him to harm anyone. Max and Biggs had spotted him in the city and it had been easy for Freya to put a tracer on him. Now they were all following him in the woods where he was carrying his victim. There was enough distance between them that he hadn't noticed being shadowed. He was now inside a cabin, and soundlessly the sixteen soldiers took their places around. Gael, Foxy, Biggs and Sprite were hiding behind some trunks, Max and CB behind an old rusty pick-up, Os, Jane, Snake and Jason had climbed up trees, Freya, Sun, Sable and Puck circled the cabin, while Foxy and Bull played their part in the path.

"Are we there yet?" whined Blondie with her best high-school girl voice.

"Almost," grunted Bull.

"I swear, Billy, if I have mud on my clothes, you'll pay for the cleaners."

"Yeah, yeah."

"A cabin? Is that what you wanted to show me?" Blondie had stopped and crossed her arms against her chest, pouting.

"No, it's inside." He gestured her to follow him but she didn't move.

"No, no, I'm not coming inside that. It's dirty and creepy. What did you think? That I wanted to lose my virginity in some dipso's shack? No, no, no, no way!"

"Come on, Sandy. You promised."

"I won't sleep with you there! I don't want to catch something."

"Come on, it's clean inside. At least, take a gander. I promise if you don't like it, we'll go back to the others."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I swear. Please, babe."

"All right." Blondie reached Bull in front of the cabin, when the door opened and Alec's twin stepped outside. Blondie blushed immediately and slapped Bull.

"Is that what you wanted to show me? Was that your plan? To share me with your buddy. And I who thought you were a nice guy. Asshole!" She hissed and turned around.

"Sandy! I swear I didn't know there was someone here. Please baby." Bull turned to look at a pissed Ben. "Hey, Pal, could you please tell her we don't know each other."

"It's none of my business. Now, clear off."

"Come on, man. I won't beg you, but it won't cost you anything."

Ben seemed to think for a second.

"And then you leave?"

"Yes!"

He closed the door and walked toward the pouting Blondie.

"I don't know him, and he doesn't know me. It's not some ploy, so now, can you call your puppy back and leave."

"I don't think so," Blondie said, batting her eyelashes. Then with a big smile, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Sandy!" protested Bull.

Blondie pressed a point on Ben's nape and he fell on his knees, unconscious. Bull winced in memory.

As soon as Ben was on the ground, the others left their hideaways. Bull quickly tied him.

"He really looks like Alec."

"He's his twin, Blondie, that's expected," said Sable, sarcastically.

"Do we sedate him?" Foxy asked Max.

"I don't know. He will be more than pissed to know I betrayed him."

"Max, you didn't."

"I did, and all of you know that too, but it's okay. I have to live with the choices I made. Sedate him."

"How is the priest?" Freya asked Biggs who was exiting the cabin.

"He'll survive. Blondie, Bull, good job. It was hilarious."

"Did you really have to kiss him?" groaned CB.

"Nope, but I dreamed for years to kiss Alec, now I can say I did."

"He's not Alec."

"Don't destroy my dream." Blondie pouted and the others laughed.

†††††††††††††††††††††††

When Ben opened his eyes, he had a killing headache and it took him some times to be able to discern where he was. The ceiling was clinically white, as were the walls. He was in a bed, and he was bound. Shit!

What had happened to him? The last thing he remembered was being in the shack with the priest, then he had heard a couple bickering outside, a couple who visibly planned to use his hideaway to shag. He had stepped outside to tell them to go to hell and the pretty blonde had kissed him. Then he had blackened out. Bitch!

You should have smelled the rat miles away, but no, a pretty girl kisses you, and you cease to think. Idiot!

He tried to loosen his bonds and suddenly noticed that he wasn't alone in his room.

A dark-skinned guy was playing card in a corner with a Mediterranean-looking one. The blond girl from before was looking at him.

"Hey, you're awake. Guys, the groundhog is awake." The black man nodded and left the room.

"Where am I? Who are you? Why am I tied?"

"Easy, Benny!"

Ben made a face at the pet name, then paled; she knew his name.

"Blondie, don't flirt with him," groaned the other guy.

"I'm not flirting."

"Yes you are."

"NO, I'm not."

"You are.

"Am not."

"Are!"

"Am not!"

"OH! Enough!" Ben shot. "And how do you know my name?"

"Which question do you want me to answer?" She murmured with a wink.

"Blondie, enough!"

"CB, relax. I won't jump his bones."

"You kissed him."

"We already discussed that, love." The blond girl kissed the CB guy and then turned her attention to Ben. "So which question?"

"Where am I?"

"In a clinic for mentally disordered."

"Great. I'm not crazy."

"Sorry, but you are," Blondie cut him off with a smile. "You're a psychopath, and you're pretty stupid too. Going and killing men were not a really smart move, but you can't help if you're insane, but tattooing your barcode on them was even sillier. It was like you wanted them to find you."

"Them? Who are them?"

"Manticore, silly. Who do you think we are?"

"You're X5's?" Ben was upset now. Great, goodbye freedom, welcome back in hell.

"Finally!" CB exclaimed. "The outside hadn't done your brain any good, did it?"

The door opened again and a beautiful tanned girl entered, followed by a redhead with bright blue locks and an Italian-looking guy.

"CB, Blondie, you can go now." The bickering couple left, and Ben noticed a sad smile on the beautiful girl's face.

"Hello Ben. I'm sorry we had to tie you. How are you?"

This voice, these eyes, he knew them, but how?

"I would be better free and far away."

"I'm so sorry, but I didn't really have a choice. It was either you or Alec, and you need help. You can't continue to kill like that. It's not you, Ben. You weren't like that. What happened to you?"

"Maxie?"

"Sorry."

"You work for them." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"I do."

"Why?"

"They brought me back."

"And they sent you to catch me."

"Yes." She had tears in her eyes, and the redhead intervened.

"Ben, I can call you Ben, or do you prefer I use your designation?"

"Ben is better."

"I thought so. So, Ben, you have to know that Max didn't want to capture you. It's in her accord with Deck. She won't help Manticore to find and bring back her family. But you know Lydecker; he can be a bastard."

The Italian guy chuckled and Ben had to stop himself to do the same.

"If you haven't turned crazy, she would have told them to go to hell. But you being crazy with no reason known to them means that they would have to test your twin, again and again, until they find out why you snapped. I don't think you're selfish, contrary to what they taught us, I know why you all escaped, and I'm sure you can understand Max's predicament. It was your liberty or your twin's live. He already suffered a lot for you, and we wouldn't have left it happen again. Sure Max helped us to find you, but even without her, we would have succeeded in capturing you. If we had done that, the only difference would be that our unit would be weakened and we would have lost Max's trust. So don't start to be bitter on her, she doesn't deserve it."

Ben was quite surprised by the redhead's aplomb and her loyalty towards Max.

"I have a twin?"

Max smiled. "Yes. His name is Alec. He's my CO. Sorry Biggs. He was our CO…"

"It's okay, Max." Biggs cut her off. "Alec is my CO too, and you're our SIC. I don't care what Renfro says. You two outrank me, no problem."

The two girls smiled at the Italian guy and Ben felt a bit left out.

"So what's the program, now? Is this a Manticore facility or…"

"Not exactly. It's Doctor Connor's clinic. I wanted him to study you a bit, to compare your mind with Alec's. Then we'll bring you to our base, and then…"

"They'll test me, then cure me or kill me, if the former, they'll re-educate me."

"Something like that," Max said.

"Why didn't you escape again?"

"Zack and Brin wondered too." Max chuckled. "Bizarrely, I'm happy. Okay, I'm not free, but I have friends, and maybe it's an easier life. I saw what the life outside Manticore is, and I can say, I hated it."

"Zack and Brin? Don't tell me they're…"

"Zack is still free, don't worry. Unfortunately Brin is back at the base, but she's not unhappy."

Someone knocked at the door and a doctor entered.

"Hello Max, I see our pensioner is awake."

"Doctor Connor, meet my brother Ben. Ben, that's doctor Connor, he helped me years ago, you can trust him. He's not here to hurt you."

"If you say so, Maxie. Hello doc. Do you think you could help me, they say I'm crazy?"

"We'll see."

"I'll be back later." Max said when three others soldiers entered to relieve them.

††††††††

It was a week later and Ben was looking by the window to the park below. He was untied, they had put a tracer somewhere under is skin so he had no chance to escape them, nor that he still wanted it. Max had told him what had happened to their twins after the escape and he had felt bad. It had never crossed his mind that others would suffer the consequences of their actions. He knew that there was not a lot of hope in his case. He would probably be dismembered, but weirdly that didn't scare him. Max was right; his freedom hadn't exactly been paradisiacal. If Manticore was hell, the purgatory was outside his fences, and heaven wasn't on this land.

At least before his death, he would have seen his sister again and seen her happy.

It was a sunny day and Max's unit was grouped on the grass near a pond, sunbathing and fooling around.

Noticing the envious look on Ben's face, Jane left her book and came closer. She smiled at the view below.

"Do you want to join them?"

"May I?"

"Sure, why not? It's not like you would escape, after all."

Returning her smile, Ben walked towards the door, followed by the pretty Asian.

"What was your reading?"

"Weapons through the ages."

Ben sniggered.

"You're the sniper of the unit, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm the best."

"Your unit looks pretty close."

"We are. We're not exactly close as you were. We don't consider ourselves as a family, but I think it's probably because some of us are in couple, and it would have felt weird."

"I noticed. Blondie and CB, Sable and Biggs."

"Don't say that to her, she would dissect you alive."

"Why? Denial?"

"She claims he's an immature jerk."

"But they have chemistry."

"That they have, and you haven't seen them when her heat knocked at the door. Last time we haven't seen them for three days."

"Heat?"

"Oh, you don't know? Of course, you don't know, you left before all hell broke loose. We, female X5's, suffered from cat's estrus, thrice a year. When it happens, we secrete pheromones, which attract and turn males crazy. After that, we're like rabbits in heat."

"Oh…"

"Yes, oh… As you can imagine, Manticore didn't plan that and that pissed them to no end."

"It last three days?"

"It depends. Usually, the girls are in Iso as soon as they're in heat. But if they're in an away mission, it could last one, two, or three days. I never experienced heat with a male; I preferred being in safety in Iso than fucked or get fucked by the closest available alpha male. We have a theory, which said that the more compatible or great together we are, the more time we last. And Sable hates our theory."

"Because she spent three days with Biggs."

"Exactly. Don't tell her I told you that."

"Your secret is safe. Other couples I should know?"

"Why? Do you want to put the moves on someone?"

"Just to be sure."

"Sun and Foxy are an item, even if they haven't consummate anything. Os tried to go between and let's say that he regretted it badly when Max intervened."

"Max and Os?"

Jane laughed.

"No! He wouldn't have said no, but Max isn't interested by him. Sprite and Puck are close, but not like that. You already know that Blondie and CB are mated."

"Mated? Like animals."

"Yep, and for life. We usually don't rush to mate, but I can understand CB's haste. If he hadn't claimed Blondie, she probably wouldn't have noticed he was truly in love with her and would still be after each available male. Sun and Foxy will probably mate sooner or later. And I'm afraid for Sable that she and Biggs will do the same."

"Is my baby sister mated with someone?"

"Max? No. She has a platonic relationship with Alec."

"My twin?"

"Yes."

"Weird…"

"For you. For us, it's just normal. No guy would ever put a move on her, we all know they're together, even if they will never act on it. No guy wants to be beaten like pulp by Alec. The girls still hope, but deeply they know they don't stand a chance. You'll understand after five minutes in their company."

The group was now in sight.

"It will be better if we change the subject.'

"Sure. What are the odds I survive?"

"Humm. Good question. I think they're pretty good. They hate losing us. I'm sure they'll do their best to heal you. You probably won't remember anything after that, but you'll be alive."

"It won't be me."

"Max and Brin will always be there for you, don't worry. They won't let you down."

They were arrived in front of the bunch of X5's. As usual, Max was in Alec's arms.

"Hey Ben, how are you?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Good. Come and sit down."

Gael moved a bit and Ben took his former place. He noticed his twin's wary eyes on him.

"You don't like me."

Alec only shrugged.

"I didn't expect you to. I can't say I like you either. I hate feeling guilty."

Max smiled.

"Ben, be nice with your brother."

"Yes mommy!"

Others chuckled, and Alec looked outraged that Max had defended him.

"Stop pouting, Alec, it doesn't suit you!" Freya warned him.

Noticing his discomfort, Max nuzzled her head against his neck. Immediately Alec relaxed.

Jane gave Ben a wink and a 'I told you so' look.

Gael sighed.

"What's your problem, munchkin?" Sun teased the youngster.

"Don't call me that, Sunny boy! I'm just glad it's our last day away."

"Oh, the munchkin is in love."

"Shut up Os!"

"Missing the little Kestrel, aren't we?" Os continued.

"At least he's getting some, not like someone else," Sprite intervened, Gael blushed red and Os pouted.

"My pretty Sprite, you can help if you want."

"Nope, sorry, not interested." The brunette stuck her tongue out at the desperate and single Os.

"So tomorrow…" Ben said, absentmindedly.

Max gave him a sad smile.

"Maybe I should make the better of my last day… Jane? Do you want to go for a walk?"

Laughing, the Asian girl nodded and stood up. Ben took her hand and led her away, while the others stayed mouth agape.

"How did he do that?" protested Os. "I'm trying for months, and he doesn't even know her for a week and there he is."

"Os, you're pretty and funny, but you insist too much," Freya consoled the boy.

"Don't call me pretty, I'm a guy. Handsome, okay, but pretty, it's a girly attribute."

Max was looking where her brother had vanished, a genuine smile on her lips.

"I can't say I saw it coming," Alec murmured in her ear. "Do you think I have to worry?"

Max laughed.

"No, you're safe. Jane has succumbed at Ben's personality, not at your looks."

Alec released a dramatically exaggerated breath.

Two women approached the group. One was Sara, the Latino woman that Max had trusted during her own stay at the clinic years ago. The other was a blond woman in her young forties and was named Jennifer. During the week, they had spent some times with Max and Alec, as some other pensioners had done with other X5's. If the young soldiers had quickly understood why they were drawn to them, they had kept that knowledge secret. They knew Lydecker knew they knew, but they didn't want to distress the women and they wanted to make good use of their chances to know them.

"Hey Jennifer, Sara."

"Hello Max, Alec."

"Has the doctor found out what was your problem, Alec?" Jennifer asked nervously.

"Yes, he has. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine."

Rapidly, Connor had found out that despite a guilty mind and a great sadness, Alec was as sane as possible. He had also testified that Ben's madness could have been predicted a long time ago, as it was a result of his weakened mind, his fantasies concerning the world and the harsh reality of the life outside Manticore. So now, Lydecker had assured Max and Alec that he wouldn't be sent in Psy-Ops again.

"Do you want to play a game of Monopoly with me, Alec?"

"Of course Jennifer. I'll be delighted."

"Max and I will go for a walk," Sara informed them and Max chuckled at the quite new confidence of the woman.

A moment later, they sat on a deserted bench.

"I'm glad to see you're happy, Max."

"Thank you, Sara."

"And I'm glad you have Alec at your sides."

Max smiled.

"He seems like a great guy. A bit sad, but great. Besides he doesn't look sad when he's with you."

They remained silent a moment, then Sara resumed.

"We didn't know, you know."

Max raised an eyebrow. "What didn't you know?" She asked softly.

"What they will do with you."

Max looked at the woman, bewildered.

"You know?!"

"I always knew I had a baby, even when they were saying that I was crazy and it was my imaginary talking. They had almost convinced me when you came here five years ago, and I felt it. As soon as I saw you I felt it. I wasn't crazy, I never was. I had a baby and this baby was you."

"You didn't tell them?"

"No, I didn't want to awake a day with no memory of you. I know I was lucky; I was the only one who had seen her baby. I cherished this memory of you. You already were so pretty."

Noticing tears in the eyes of her surrogate mother, Max hugged her tightly.

"Do the others know?"

"Some, but we don't want to upset the ones whose children aren't here, so we keep it secret."

"That's nice of you."

"Jennifer won't ask Alec, but she swore she had seen him in too different places."

"That's Ben, his twin."

"He has a twin?"

"A lot of us have. I have a twin, Alec saw her two years ago. She lives in another… place. Bull and Freya have twins too. That's the ones I know about."

"How are those 'places'?"

"Hellish."

"I'm so sorry, Max."

"It's okay Sara. It's not your fault."

"Do you think you could call me…?" The woman hesitated.

"Mom?" Sara nodded. "Why not, mom."

"Thank you, Max, it means a lot for me… Do you know where are the others?"

"The others?"

"Surrogates. Because we're only fifty here, and I don't think they have only fifty… like you, even with the twins."

"You're right, they haven't. You can add zero at the number, only for our 'place'. I think they only detain the ones who knows too much or can't forget that they had had kids, or maybe they have others places like this one."

"Do you think I will see you again?"

"I really don't know, mom. Maybe."

"I hope so."

The day after, eight killing-machines weren't even trying to hide their tears while leaving that place. When they had first put a foot in this clinic, they weren't expecting to meet the women who had carried them nine months in their wombs. But they had, and now they had to live without knowing if they would ever see them again.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N:** So? Love? Hate? Review?

Any questions?


	12. Change in on the air

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing**: M/A undertones

**Rating:** R. Do not read if you're easily offended or underage.

**Setting:** AU, after the escape of 2009.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N:** Finally, an update and the longest ever! It's my Christmas gift! Yeah! I know, I know, it took ages, but life is hectic… well, mine anyway. I'm back in Paris, back in school/College, back at work, yada yada yada. And still without my own home. So I don't know when I will be able to write the (last?) chapter, but don't worry; I will.

Thank you all for all your favs, or alerts.

**Bella1992:** Sorry, I'm late. Hope you'll like this chapter.

**Crazy4Cocopuffs:** I don't know yet if Max will meet Tinga or another 09er later. I don't think so. I hope this chapter will please you and fulfil one of yours wishes. I would have loved the batch of cookies. I promise I'll try to be faster with the next chapter.

**Fashiongurl3188:** Well, I'm working on it. ;-)

**Vampiress-06:** thank you, and don't worry I haven't killed him, yet. Kidding.

**Sliver of Melody**: Thank you.

**RchHghr:** thank you for taking time to read it. I like you nickname by the way. Funny to type.

**akka:** thank you, thank you, thank you.

**Llboo865:** thank you, and here's the update. The next should follow as quickly as I can.

Okay, now, let's move on to the chappie!

And Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël to all!

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Change is on the Air**

Max and Foxy were waiting for Lydecker in his office. They had just gotten back from their mission and both soldiers wanted to be able to shower and rest. But it was one o'clock in the morning and, as almost everyone in the facility did, the colonel was asleep when they passed the gates. So now, here they were, waiting, and placing bet on the color of Lydecker's PJs.

"Green with bright yellow polka dots."

"Yeah sure, Fox, and why not, purple bunny slippers while you're at it. It's Deck we're talking about. I'll say, anthracite satin pants with white cotton wife-beater."

"Boring."

"But comfy," came Lydecker's voice from behind.

Foxy jumped at attention, but Max only nodded to their superior with a tired yawn.

"Sorry Deck if I don't stand up, but I haven't slept in four days."

Lydecker only nodded, smiling slightly.

"At ease, soldiers. I won't keep you too long. What happened?"

"Renfro met him again," explained Max, while Foxy sat back in her armchair and closed her eyes.

"Where?"

"Atlanta."

"Do you know what they were discussing?"

"The Coming, for all that means."

"That's all?"

"And a chosen one. But that's all I know about. I think it's an X5, but who? And why? No idea."

"Where did he go after the meeting?"

"The international airport. He bought a ticket for Bridgetown, Barbados, under the name of Chris Christenson. Os and Jane took it from there."

"What Renfro did then?"

"She booked a flight for Seattle."

"Anything else?"

"She was contacted by Ames White while flying, Sir." Foxy informed. "They planned a meeting in nine days."

"Where?"

"They never said. He will contact her again."

"Are you sure she doesn't know about the micro?"

"I don't think so, sir, since she called Borrers to diss you."

"Borrers? And what did she say?"

"That you were hiding some things, and manipulating the Committee, sir."

Lydecker chuckled.

"Ah Lizzie, when will she ever learn? So that's why Borrers wants to see me, and not to discuss our usual golf game," the colonel whispered to himself, before looking at his soldiers. "Anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Nothing, Deck."

"Good. Dismissed."

The two girls saluted and left. Silently, they reached their corridor and separated.

"Good night, Maxie, " said Foxy while entering her cell.

"Night, Fox, dream of Sunnier days."

"Very funny Max."

"I think so," teased the brunette, before disappearing into a room.

Alec opened his eyes when Max entered his cell.

Yawning, the girl joined him in his bunk and he smiled. With her sleepy eyes and pout, she looked anything but dangerous.

"Good mission?"

"Mhm," Max replied, resting her head on the half part of the pillow.

Noticing that her eyes were already closed, Alec stopped his interrogatory and put his arms around the tiny waist of his bedmate.

"Night, Maxie."

Only a light snore answered him.

Despite the fact that it was a tough fit in his already uncomfortable bunk, Alec wasn't complaining. Lately, it had become a habit between the two. When Max came back from a mission, she always slept in his arms. That way, she could completely recuperate. She didn't have to be on her guards, as she always was, she was safe there. So what, if Alec didn't sleep that well, he didn't care. Besides, it wasn't really uncomfortable, far from it. Who could really complain to have Max in their bed, even if it was only to drool on their pillow?

††††††††

Despite her shark DNA, Max was still sleeping when the call came, and Alec let her continue her dreams. If she was needed, he'd send someone to wake her up. He knew nobody would say anything. Maybe Renfro would have, but they weren't under her orders anymore.

When he reached their briefing room, he found seven soldiers waiting for him. With eight soldiers on different missions, that only left him with Sable, Jason, CB, Blondie, Bull, Snake and Foxy, who was still half asleep and rested her head against the wall.

"Foxy, you can go back to your cell. Max is still sleeping anyway."

"No, it's okay, Alec. Max needs her rest, I'm just being lazy. I'll be fine after a shower," she yawned and the others laughed.

"So, anyone knows the reason of our presence so early?" asked Bull.

"No idea," replied Alec, when the door opened again to let Sun, Gael and the Colonel Lydecker enter.

Foxy completely woke up and looked at her boyfriend, assessing his physical condition, while Lydecker reached the main desk, where Alec stepped back.

"Where is Max?"

"Sleeping, sir."

"Alright, Alec, you'll see with her later if she wants to be on this mission."

That could only mean one thing, this mission concerned an 09er, every soldiers understood that. Besides, Sun and Gael were back, and they precisely had been sent on a localization mission.

"Sun, explain them the situation!" ordered Lydecker, while serving himself some coffee

"Yes, sir!" said the blond Adonis while standing up. "We localized X5-210, aka Jondy, four days ago in Canberra, Australia. But we lost her trace when she suspiciously vanished two days ago. She hasn't spotted us and has no reason to quit her life there. She's in a relationship with an ordinary, and hasn't been contacted by 599. Our contacts told us that there were some men looking for her, men who belong to an organization concurrent of Manticore. They're called the Reds and are from South Africa. They don't feel any pain and are quite indestructible. Different contacts told us that they are searching a female X-serie for months, probably to create their own baby soldiers and combine their technology to ours. Now, they seem to have found one. Other than the fact that Manticore doesn't want the concurrency to have our technology, we can't let one of us in theirs hands. The Colonel agreed with Gael and I, and we have to form a unit to retrieve X5-210 from theirs claws. Did I forget something, sir?"

"Nothing, soldier. Alec, you're in charge of this mission, with Sun as your SIC. I want twenty soldiers in the team. You're free to choose in every unit. This mission is Top Priority, so if you want someone from the facility who has another mission scheduled, you pass first."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm on it," assured a voice from behind.

Lydecker smiled, as Max left her place at the door and entered the room.

"Are you sure, Max?"

"Totally, Deck. Did you really think I would leave my sister there?"

"You're aware that she will be brought back here, Max."

"We can't always have what we want", a resigned Max replied. "Besides, maybe they don't have her, but I really want to kick some ass, and lately ordinaries are so… predictable. Give me a break, or at least a Familiar."

Her friends chuckled and Alec rolled his eyes up.

"I want the mission parameters on my desk in one hour. A plane is waiting for you at 1000."

With these words, Lydecker left the room.

"All right," Alec commanded and obtained everyone's attention. "Which units are currently available?"

Blondie stepped up: "No complete unit. Sai must have the biggest with us, with nine soldiers, I think. And there are seven from Tennessee's unit, and seven from Chrystal's. The others units are even fewer."

Sai was the CO of unit 10, a unit which worked well with unit 8, Tennessee was her brother and CO of unit 11, and Chrystal was the newly appointed CO of unit 9.

"Sun, Max, Sable, any idea?" asked Alec.

Alec was back being Unit 8's CO, since Max had declined the offer, preferring being his SIC, which she was except for missions concerning the others 09ers, there, Sun, Sable or Biggs shared the position.

"Milan and Brin," proposed Max.

"Sure."

"Bret, Sai and Aqua," said Sable, designating three of the best soldiers of unit 10.

"Hiro and Shazel," added Sun, choosing a pair from unit 11 he had already teamed with.

"Ok. Two other names and we're done. Max?" Alec had seen something cross Max's face, but she was keeping her idea for her, and that wasn't her usual behavior.

"Ben?"

"Are you sure? He's only back in active duty for three weeks."

"It's for Jondy. Ben would have wanted to come, and Brin will be here with me, so…"

"I see, Max, but you won't have time to baby-sit him."

"I know that!" cried Max, indignant. "But he will help. Besides, he's good."

"If Lydecker says no, we'll pick someone else. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes… Add Skar. They work well together." Skar was unit 9's SIC, and because his twin had been killed the day Unit 2 escaped, he had developed a soft spot for the reformed 'deserter,' instead of hating the 09ers like a lot of them had been taught to. It was funny to see, because Ben didn't need a nanny, and with his muscular body and his tall length, Skar looked exactly like a bodyguard hired to protect a weak lady.

"We're done. Sun, anything else you can tell us about the Reds?"

"Indestructible, built like Vikings or other giants. The Vermont facility lost three X5's in a mission where they stumbled upon each other. Three against three, and the Reds lost only one of them, because they made his skull blow up. So, our best chances are not to fight them, but to shoot them."

††††††††††††††††

Max had wanted to kick some ass, and despite their orders to eliminate the Reds from as far away as possible, she had gotten her wish fulfilled, and wasn't the only one.

The base they were attacking was well guarded, as much as by ordinary guards, with their usual weapons, as by the infamous Reds, and there was blood everywhere.

The X5's had only lost two soldiers so far and, luckily, not permanently; Blondie had received a bullet in her thigh and another in her arm, making her useless for the task at hand, and Hiro had a deep gut wound, but none of their lives were threatened. The enemy, on the other hand, had lost more soldiers and guards than thinkable. Following Sun's advices, the X5's had sniped at every head they could. The ground was covered in corpses.

Unfortunately, as the soldiers entered deeper and deeper into the base, their sniper skills were less and less useful. Due to this, many of them now had their combat knifes in hand, and had no difficulty to use them, even if that meant they have to get messier.

Max was slitting her fifth throat since she had put a foot in this part of the facility, when she noticed the door she had been looking for. A diligent technician had told her where her sister was and she had thanked him by knocked him up. Max was only killing when there wasn't any other alternative, and ordinaries usually took more time to wake up than they would stay here.

Gesturing to Bret and Milan, she opened the door and froze; only a second maybe, the time for her to realize that she wasn't hallucinating, then all hell broke loose. There was a guy there, obviously another Red, who either was deaf and hadn't heard the base being under attack, or simply didn't care about anything else than his own pleasure.

Bret and Milan couldn't do anything else but stare at a Max gone feral. The Red, who a minute before had been impregnating the old way the unfortunate abductee, was now pinned against a wall; Max's knife plunged into his male parts. But Max had no intention to play nice any longer, and without hesitation, she sliced the man's chest in two, from his sex to his neck. The Red was twice Max's size, but she hadn't left him a chance.

Not letting what they had just witnessed shock them – after all, they were all killing-machines, Bret and Milan stepped up to help, but stilled when Max growled. They didn't know what to do, but their instincts told them to stay put and stay quiet.

Max quickly put a sheet on the naked part of her sister's body, then unfastened her, and assessed the damages inflicted upon her. Jondy had bruises and cuts all over her body, and her elbow looked dislocated. She was also unconscious and Max hoped it was from some drugs, and not from a psychological reaction her mind would have created to protect her from the horror happening to her. Noticing a white blouse on a chair, Max picked it and dressed her sister with it.

"Bret, Milan, Max, everything okay?" asked the worried voice of CB through the intercom. "Where are you?"

Max didn't reply and looked everywhere for some pants to put on her sister.

"In the lab. We found 210, and Max is acting weird," said Milan.

"How weird?" Alec's voice reached them. "And why are you still there?"

"Max won't let us help her or approach her sister. She's not quite herself. She's groaning at us."

"Fuck! I'm coming. Everyone, every girl in the vicinity of Max, rejoin her!"

Brin and Foxy were the firsts to enter the lab to discover two tense soldiers looking uneasily at Max, who was standing between them and her sister, protecting her.

"Fuck!" Foxy repeated Alec's word, and gestured to the guys to step back. "Maxie, we need to leave, we need to bring Jondy home, in safety. Do you understand, Max?"

Foxy walked slowly towards her best friend, talking to her like she was a child. Not understanding, Brin hurried towards Jondy, only to be stopped by Max's arm around her neck.

"Max, it's Brin, your sister. Release her. She doesn't know. She only wants to help Jondy. She loves Jondy. Right, Brin?"

Brin resisted her urge to roll her eyes, but replied.

"Yes, of course, I love her."

"She won't cause her any harm."

Foxy's eyes told Brin to confirm. "That's true, Max, I won't hurt her. I promise. Maxie?"

Finally, Max released her headlock, but she still didn't let Brin come any closer to Jondy.

"Max, come here. Everything will be okay."

Alec's voice seemed to wake Max up from her stupor, and she complied, leaving Foxy and Brin to take care and carry a still unconscious Jondy. Noticing Bret and Milan, she couldn't help but groan again, and the guys understood the message. Keep your distance.

"Easy, Max. It's going to be okay. We need to leave. Are you still with us?" Alec held the anxious soldier in his arms, and Max simply nuzzled his chest with her cheek in assent.

"Okay, let's go. Milan, Bret, open the way, Max and I close it."

Alec wasn't reassured to see his best friend and his equal in the rank hierarchy acting that way. Her only concern seemed to be her sister and that no man came close to her. She didn't seem to realize they were still in a battle and that anyone could come and open fire on them.

But Alec worried for nothing, because if Max wasn't acting as the perfect soldier they all knew and praised, she wasn't ineffective for one bit; she was completely tuned with her instincts. As Alec had feared, a Red appeared suddenly on their way – he had been hiding in a deserted hallway and neither Milan, Bret nor Brin and Foxy had spotted him. But Max had seemed to see him even before he was in sight, and without a second thought, she had killed him, breaking his bull neck with her bare hands.

And she didn't stop there. The whole way back to their extraction point, she had been on alert and pushed three soldiers out of bullet's trajectory. She only took one herself when Bret, not understanding what was happening, had resisted to her push. With a bullet in her left collarbone, Max was the eleventh soldier who would come back to the base injured.

†††††††††††††††

The plane had been in the air for a little more than twenty minutes and the majority of soldiers were either recuperating or being treated for their injuries. Max was in a room apart, looking for her sister. She was helping Sable heal Jondy's divers wounds – she had refused any male help, even if Snake was the best medic. She only tolerated Alec's presence near her, because she trusted him with her life and knew he would never hurt her sister. Despite being herself again, she couldn't help but react that way.

"What's wrong with Max?" asked Bret.

"Nothing!" replied the members of Unit 8 in unison.

"Yeah, sure. Does she often go feral like that?"

"It's none of your business, Bret!" replied Bull.

Vexed, Bret kept quiet, but now, every soldier, other than Unit 8, were curious.

Brin gestured for Foxy to follow her and as soon as they were alone, she asked her softly: "Is there something wrong with my baby sister?"

"Not really. She just doesn't take the rape subject kindly."

"Who would!"

"Exactly."

"Is there anything I should now?"

"I… dunno."

Max chose that moment to leave the medic room and joined them, and Foxy froze, not knowing if she had said too much.

"Problem Fox?"

"No, Max. Your sister was only wondering the reason behind your feral reaction."

"Oh, that. It's not a big deal, Brin. One of my heat didn't end well when I was younger," Max explained with a slight chuckle, and Foxy frowned, not used to see Max talking lightly about the painful subject. "And I have a sort of big hatred for every rapist in the world."

Brin's face had fell, but Max was still smiling, like it didn't bother her anymore.

"None of you have a 'morning-after' pill with you, I suppose?"

Brin shook her head and Foxy answered: "Sorry, Max."

"I'll see with Blondie. We can't really let Jondy end up pregnant, can we?"

With these words, Max left them and rejoined the others.

"You don't think Jondy is pregnant?" Brin turned towards Foxy.

"I hope not. You could never know what Renfro would do with such an opportunity. And I don't know your sister, but I'm pretty sure, she wouldn't want a child of her, albeit an unwanted one, working for Manticore."

Max came back a second later, with a huge smile on her face and holding a small ampoule.

"Fox, remind me to offer a gift to Blondie."

"And a new vial. You don't want to be a godmother so soon, want you?"

Max chuckled and entered the medic room. During her short absence, Jondy had awakened and was talking to Sable. She didn't notice her sister's entrance.

"So, you're X5. That means we're going to Manticore, right?"

"Yes, sorry."

"Don't be. I'm quite glad to see you actually. Better Manticore than the other brutes. But you don't think you could let me go, do you?"

"Not a chance," Sable laughed and Jondy pouted. "That pout doesn't work with me. I'm immune to it, you can thank your brother for that."

"Which brother?"

"Ben."

"You have Ben. Oh shit."

Silently Max left the room.

"How is he?"

"You can ask him yourself," said Sable, noticing Ben's, Brin's and Max's entrance.

Ben walked toward the bed, while Brin and Max stayed out of sight, where Alec was.

"Ben!"

"How are you lil' sis?"

"Oh, you know… Getting better. I'm glad you're here, still. At least, I won't be completely alone. How long have you been recaptured?"

"Three months, three weeks and two days, not that I'm counting."

Jondy couldn't help but laugh, and Ben smiled.

"It's good to hear you laugh."

"Hey, you know me. I'm not the one to whine, especially when I don't have a choice in the matter."

"That, we know," Brin said, coming closer.

"Oh, god, Brin. You too… I'm afraid to ask if there is more?"

"Don't be," added Max, joining her siblings. "I'm the last one."

Tears were streaming down Jondy's face, though she was smiling.

"You need to rest, now. Sable will help you if you need anything," said Max.

"You won't stay?"

"No, Snake wants this shoulder to be bandaged, or I will receive an earful. But I'll be back soon. You can trust Sable."

Max left, followed by Alec, and Jondy looked at Ben, strangely.

"Who was that? With Max?"

"Alec, my twin."

"Okayyy…"

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Jondy was in Psy-Ops for two weeks now, and Max was fretting. From all her siblings, Jondy was the one she was the closest to, and she couldn't stand to know they were hurting her. She didn't want to see what had happened with Ben, happened again. Of course, her brother still remembered his childhood and his former unit, but that was all. All his time outside Manticore had been ripped from his memory, and his personality had been slightly changed. You could say it wasn't a bad thing, since he was a psychotic murderer until recently, but it wasn't for Max or Brin. He was a too obedient soldier in their eyes, and Renfro seemed delighted with him. She never let escape an occasion to rub it into Max's face.

So that was the reason why Max was here, walking towards her sister's isolated cell. She knew no guard would report her, but even if they did, she knew she wouldn't be punished. There were many advantages of being Lydecker's favorite and their best female soldier.

Having reached Jondy's cell, she knocked lightly on her door, then unlocked it and entered.

Jondy was a bit startled to see the door open and her sister come in.

"Max, what are you doing here? And how did you do that?"

"I have my ways. Don't worry, no guards will come before sunrise."

Jondy nodded and looked at her sister, noticing her slightly worried look.

"Something wrong Max?"

"Humm? No, not at all. Do you want to go for a walk?"

"What?"

"You heard me fine. So what do you think? A walk?"

"But… I can't. What if the guards saw us?"

"They won't say anything."

"And Renfro?"

"She's away again, she's not expected before two days. Trust me, it would be ok. But if that reassure you, we'll be back before the stars vanished, and you could even have two hours to sleep, if you need it. So?"

A huge smile made its way across Jondy's face.

"Of course. I so need to see something else than these walls or Psy-Ops."

Ten minutes later, they were outside, breathing the fresh air.

"Do you miss it?" asked suddenly Jondy. "The freedom, I mean."

"I used to. When I was in Wyoming, I wished I could be free, because everywhere was better than there. But then I came here, and I dunno, it changed. Besides I'm not sure I would feel truly free if I'd always have to look behind me… You?"

"Of course. I had a life there."

"Are you going to escape?"

"I… I don't know. My life there ended when the Reds captured me. Even if I could, I wouldn't go back there. I don't want to wake up a day in one of their labs, or worse."

Max nodded.

They were arrived in front of the running track, and stopped. Max looked at her sister, an amused glint in her eyes.

"How rusty are you?"

"What? No, no way. I don't want to feel even worse."

"Come on, I promise you, I'll go slow."

"Right, like it's better."

"Please? With a cherry on the top?"

Jondy rolled her eyes and suddenly darted.

Grinning, Max followed her, but was careful to stay a bit behind. She wanted to assess her sister's condition, besides she knew that she was no match for her and didn't want to hurt further her self-confidence.

They raced themselves for an hour, and surprisingly, Jondy wasn't in too much bad shape. Afterwards they climbed to the tower where trainers evaluated them and lay there, looking at the sky. They were chatting and remembering old times, their old unit and their taste of freedom, when Jondy suddenly sat up.

"Oh, crap, Joshua."

Without an explanation, she started to climb down.

"Who?"

"Joshua, I'm always in my cell at this time, he's going to be worried."

Max ran after her, and before she could join her, she saw a guard hurriedly gesturing to her.

"452."

"Yes, Mitchell?"

"We may have a situation in Block 6."

"A situation? Jondy, wait! What kind of situation?"

Reluctantly, Jondy stilled and walked back to Max and the guard, eyeing the latter warily.

"Three X6's from unit 15 went into heat at the same time. We managed to put one away, but the other two are still inside their dorm, and the males won't let us approach. We're going to have to put the whole barrack under alert."

"Don't. We're coming." Max knew that if the guards put an entire block under alert, Renfro would take pleasure in punishing all its inhabitants. She turned toward her sister. "Ready to show those brats what a deserter can do?"

If Jondy hesitated, she didn't show it; immediately, she darted after Max.

The dorm was a mess. To no avail, teenage boys were fighting between them, teenage girls were trying their best to stop and send away the two unfortunate heated females. The braver guards were wondering on how to use theirs tasers on the boys - without being their next target.

When Max stormed into the room, the girls sighed in relief. Noticing a half-naked sweating female, she knocked her down and threw her on the corridor, before the males could react.

A collective groan escaped the crowd, but Max only rolled her eyes.

"What? Something to say, soldiers? Bring it on!"

Some boys launched themselves at her and Jondy rushed at her side. The brawl was intense but short, since the pheromones of the heated X6 still present was affecting the males and they couldn't fully concentrate on their fight. When the last boy lay on the ground, the calm came back into the dorm. The girls had profited from Max and Jondy's provided distraction to push the last female outside, and the guards had taken her to Iso.

"I want this dorm back to its usual state before dawn, and never let a mayhem like that happen again! Boys, you have to fight your urges. This is Manticore, not a brothel. And girls; you have to know when your heat is going to knock on the door, and check yourself in Iso before all hell breaks loose. Next time this happens, Director Renfro will be notified, and don't expect her to be as comprehensive as we were tonight. Am I clear, soldiers?"

"Yes, ma'am!" yelled the X6's, standing up.

"Good!"

Max turned around and left the dorm, followed by an amused Jondy.

"You're such a bitch!" joked her sister.

"Believe me, that's nothing," chuckled Max. "And they deserved it. There is nothing worse than being in heat while surrounded by your whole unit."

Jondy raised an eyebrow but knew enough her sister not to push the subject.

Max looked at the guard that had alerted her.

"Is everything okay, Mitch?"

"Yes, thanks 452. We locked the last two females in Iso."

"And the first?"

"Oh, the CO? She went and checked herself there."

"Did you see her?"

"No. Why? Should I?"

"No, it's okay. I'll check. Good night."

"Good night 452, 210."

"Night, sir!" replied Jondy, in her best soldier voice.

Max chuckled, then frowned.

"Problem, Max?"

"Unit 15's CO is Kestrel, Gael's girlfriend. I don't really think that she would willingly lock herself in Iso."

"Where do you think she is?"

"I hope for her sake that she made it safe to Gael's cell."

"How old is she?"

"Around fifteen."

On their way to Unit 8's dorm, Max stopped at the infirmary and came back with a vial and a syringe.

"What is it?"

"Morning-after pill for X-series."

"And they gave it to you?"

"I asked nicely."

Jondy snorted.

"I did."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever… It's not for you, is it?"

This time, it was Max's turn to snort.

"For me? Are you kidding? What use could I have of it?"

"Relax. I didn't want to offend you, Maxie. But I heard about you and your boy, so…"

"My boy?" Max frowned, confused.

"Ben's clone."

"Alec isn't my boy, or my something, except my friend. And where did you hear something like that? in Psy-Ops?"

"No. Joshua told me. He knows a lot of things, and he keep me updated on your life, and Brin's and Ben's life."

"I don't know any Joshua. Is he a guard?"

"No, he's the first of us. Sandeman, whoever that is, created him."

"Sandeman?" Max was surprised. No one of Manticore's residents, besides herself and her unit, knew about Sandeman's existence.

"He called him Father. Anyway, he told me about how close you are of 494. I just assumed the rest, but excuse me if I'm wrong."

"You're wrong. We're close, but not in that way. He's my best male friend and that's all."

"Okay." Jondy didn't seem convinced but didn't insist.

"And the vial is for Kestrel."

They were arrived in Unit 8's corridor and some recognizable noises could be heard from a cell. An exasperated sigh escaped the adjacent cell.

"Enough!" groaned its resident.

"Something wrong, Frey?" snickered Max.

"I'm going to kill them. They've been at it for 37 minutes. And why in Hell isn't Kestrel in Iso? She should be; she's fifteen for God's sake."

"She didn't want to?" proposed Jondy.

"Pot calling the kettle back?" teased a male voice.

"Shut up, Snake!"

"Because if I remember correctly, the day you stole my virginity, you weren't older than our little Kestrel. I believe you were around fourteen, weren't you?"

"I said shut up, Snake!" Freya coldly repeated, throwing daggers at her neighbor.

A screamed name stopped the black soldier from adding something. It also woke up their seldom still-asleep mates.

"Enough is enough!" Bull left his cell and stalked towards Gael's. He opened the door and entered.

"I wouldn't do that if I were…" started Snake, but stopped when Bull was promptly thrown out of the cell. The door was closed once again.

Groaning, Bull stood up and glared at the door.

"Vicious little thing this girl!" he mumbled.

"Kestrel did it? Oh that so great." Puck burst out laughing. The rest of the unit snickered.

"Okay everybody, go back to your cells, we still have two hours left," declared Max, "and Frey, you'll give that to Kestrel." She added, handing the blond the vial and the syringe.

"Where are you going?" asked Foxy, who clearly would never be able to fell asleep again this night.

"Escorting Jondy to her cell."

"I'm coming."

Max nodded and they left. When they reached her cell, they were surprised to find it occupied.

At their entrance, a huge man with a dog-like face stood up and pulled Jondy into a hug.

"Young fella is back! I was worried they sent you elsewhere."

"Sorry, Josh, my sister gave me a tour of the place and time fled."

Noticing Max and Foxy's uneasy faces, Jondy smiled.

"Joshua, meet my sister Max, and her friend Foxy."

"Nice to meet you, Joshua!" said Max and held out her hand.

Joshua took the offered hand and sniffed it.

"Cat! There is cat in your cocktail too. You too." He said, smelling Foxy's hand.

"Sorry?... Good teeth by the way."

"Hm… thanks… Max."

"We have to go. I can entrust you with Jondy's safety?"

Joshua nodded.

"Good. It was a pleasure meeting you, Josh. We'll see you later. Jondy, be strong. It will be over soon. And get some rest, you'll need it."

"Sure. Bye, Max, bye Foxy. It was an eventful night."

On these words, Max closed Jondy's door and they left.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††

Two more weeks had passed, and life in the facility was its usual self; pretty boring. Gael had been teased endlessly by his fellow unit mates. His fun wit Kestrel had lasted three days - three days while his unit had held his back and pretended he was locked in the infirmary. The guards from Iso had also been bribed not to signal Kestrel's absence. In the end, Max and Freya had had no choice but enter his cell and separate them, since Kestrel's heat was pretty much over and Gael was needed in the briefing room. The young lovers hadn't been happy for the interruption and some bruises on the soldier's faces were there to confirm it.

Unit 8's members had gone on one or two short missions, but it had been quite calm those last days.

So when, the alarms went off and the cell doors suddenly opened wide in the middle of the night, no one could say they had seen it coming.

"Attention, soldiers. This is not an exercise. Evacuate the buildings and regroup at your assigned place. I repeat; this is not an exercise!"

Less than three minutes later, all the soldiers present at the base were standing at attention in the crowded training field. The official higher ranked soldiers and their unofficial even higher ranked mates, Tennessee, Freya, Max and Alec, were patrolling between the units, making sure everyone was accounted for. There were really few soldiers in away missions; mostly little groups of X5's, and an X6 unit, so almost the whole base was present. Six X5 units, from unit 7 to unit 12, four X6 units, from unit 13 to unit 17, with unit 14 missing, five X7 units, from unit B1 to unit B5, and six X8 units, from unit C10 to unit C16. With an average of sixteen soldiers by X5 unit, twenty by X6, twelve by X7 and twenty-five by X8, there were around 380 soldiers on the field. All the anomalies - around two hundred heads if Joshua was right - weren't there, probably still locked in the basement, neither were the youngest X-series, who were sleeping (or trying to since the alarms were still ringing), in the newly-built nursery, and concerning them, numbers were a mystery.

Perfect little soldiers, the X7's were showing no emotion, while the X6's manifested their curiosity, excitation or annoyance, and the X8's looked anything but relaxed. Some of the youngest were even crying, despite the efforts of their teammates to make them stop.

"Hi," said Max, while kneeling in front of girl not older than three. "You shouldn't be crying."

She handed her a handkerchief.

"We're all there, don't worry. There, wipe your tears, you don't want a trainer to see you like that, do you?"

The little girl shook her head and wiped her wet cheeks furiously. She then gave Max a tense smile.

"Better. What's your name?"

"X8-678, ma'am."

"All right, X8-678. Put your soldier face back on. I'll see you later."

Max stood up and messed with the little girl's shaved hair, then left. Lydecker was coming.

"Soldiers, the whole base have been placed under alert. We could be attacked at any moment. I want units B1, B2 and B3 in the wood to watch the facility and alert Command if you notice something suspicious. Go!"

The three little units left quickly. They were the weird ones, communicating by high sound waves, thanks to the bat DNA in their cocktail. They looked the same; one face per unit, a blond boy, a black boy and an Asian girl. They weren't loved by their peers; they were too obedient. The last two X7 units were the ones who gave Max the creeps the most; they were the clones of her whole old unit and she really didn't like how hers was always looking at her.

"I want the rest of you to split up into 40 teams of 8; two X5's, two X6's, one X7 and three X8's. Each team would have to hide in the woods and the country around the base. Consider it as an escape and evade exercise. Do not attract attention to yourselves, under no circumstances whatsoever. You have to come back for 0700 tomorrow. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" replied the contingent in the same voice.

"X5, you have ten minutes to assemble the teams and leave! Any questions?"

"Do we have weapons?" asked Tennessee.

"Only for the X5's, we don't want any casualties. Yes, 243?"

"There isn't enough X7 for each teams, sir!"

"Take an X8 instead. Max?"

"What about the basement residents, sir?"

"They stay here, and hope we're not attacked, and that's final!"

Grumbling, Max turned around, then stopped and looked at Lydecker.

"And Jondy?"

"She will be with me and the X9's."

Max nodded and quickly went to pick her team members.

"Foxy?"

"I'm with Sun."

"Right. Sable?"

"Sorry. Already picked Icare."

"Brin! You're with me."

"Fine with me. Why aren't you with Alec?"

"He's staying alone with Tennessee. To make the liaison between us."

With Brin in tow, Max chose two male X6's, Eva's X7 clone, X8-678 and two others boys.

"Max! Brin! Your guns!" Alec yelled at them and tossed them two M16.

"Thanks Alec, see you later. Let's go kids."

She picked the little brunette girl in her arms, gestured to Brin and the tallest X6 to do the same with the two other X8's and darted towards the gate.

"Where is Director Renfro?" asked Eva's clone, after a while.

"Committee reunion," replied Max.

"Is that's why Colonel Lydecker took charge?"

"Yes. You're a curious one, aren't you?"

"Sorry, ma'am."

"No, don't be. It's a good trait. Eva wasn't like that."

"Who was Eva, ma'am?"

"Your original. She died the night we escaped, to save me."

"Oh… that was brave of her."

"Yeah, she was. You don't have a name, do you?"

"I have a designation, ma'am!"

"That's not the same. Brin, what do you think? What kind of name Eva would have wanted for her clone?"

"She wouldn't have wanted a clone, but… we could call her Evy, or Ivy."

"Ivy is cool," said the blond X6.

"Can I keep it?" asked the X7, with gleaming eyes.

"Yes, of course. From now on, you're Ivy."

"Thanks, ma'am."

"I'm Max, by the way, she's Brin, and that little one is Wip."

The little X8 looked at Max with an uncertain face. "Am I?"

"Yes."

Brin chuckled and the girl made a concentrating face. "Okay. Is it cool?" she asked, turning her head towards the blond X6.

"You can say that," he reassured her with a smirk, then added, "but if you permit, ma'am, I'll choose mine by myself."

Brin burst out laughing and Max acquiesced.

"Can I be Nemo?" asked the other X6, while the blond pondered about his choice.

Brin sniggered and Max couldn't help but do the same.

"For which reason, soldier?" asked Brin.

"I like Jules Verne, ma'am, and it's a good character."

"As you wish," Max bit her lips no to laugh. She couldn't forget the face of a little clownfish in an old pre-pulse animation movie, but at least the carrot hair of the teenager could always explain the name.

"I found one," exclaimed the blond one, after a moment. They had been running for a little more than an hour now, and the forest around them seemed to be at its end. They could see some fields through the wood, not too far away.

"And what that would be?"

"Draco."

"As in Dragon?"

"I think so. It's a character of pre-pulse movies. Harry Potter."

"Oh, yes, I read the books when I was outside," said Brin. "Funny story, but this character is a … how they say, ah yes, a git."

"A what?"

"A Jerk."

"But he's really cool. And he's blond too."

"All right, you're Draco and he's Nemo. And now, be quiet, there is a house nearby and we don't want them to hear us."

They had spent the majority of the day hiding, having stopped their progression when dawn showed and the ordinaries woke up. However, they had made it far; Ivy was a fast runner and never complained about their pace. They were probably one of the teams the farthest away from the base. They could smell the sea nearby. Seagulls were screaming above them.

Despite their interdiction to be seen, Max had wanted to show them the sea. Thus, they were now hiding, between some dunes. The beach was deserted. It was a chilly and cloudy afternoon; there were few chances for someone to see them and find it unusual.

"Who wants to take a bath?" Max asked suddenly.

"Is it allowed?" asked Nemo.

"I don't see why not. There is no one here, and even if there was, it's not illegal. So, who's in?"

"We are!" the two teenagers stripped to their boxers and ran into the water, screaming like banshees. It was freezing.

"Really discreet," grumbled Brin.

"Oh, let them be. They deserve their moment of fun."

"Can I go too, Max?"

"Sure, Ivy. But don't swim too far."

The blond girl darted towards the boys, eyed with envy by the three youngsters.

"Frodo, Bilbo, you do know how to swim, right?" Brin asked the boys and Max snickered, like each previous time she had heard the names of the two kids. Brin had stopped her from naming them, pretending a Wip was enough, but the names the X6's came up with for them was even worse in her opinion. Now, if they only had a boy named Bozo, they could form their own circus.

The two boys were approximately five years old. One with freckles and curly brown hair, as far as his buzz cut could show - that was Frodo, and one with green eyes and straight raven hair, who was Bilbo. Both of them nodded.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"All right, you can go, but stay close."

Stripping to their underwear, Brin and Max, still carrying Wip, rejoined the kids in the ice cold water. The little girl clung onto Max as if her life depended on it.

"What are you afraid of?" Max asked her gently.

"I don't like the tank."

"It isn't. It's the sea, and you don't have to go underwater if you don't want too. It's not an exercise, it's for fun. Do you want to?"

Wip shook her head vigorously, hiding against Max's chest.

"It's okay. It's too cold anyway. Let's go back to the beach."

Moments later, Max and Wip were building a sand castle, or more a sand Manticore, while Brin and the kids were playing underwater hide and seek.

The sun was hiding, when they heard a motorcycle coming. Max stood up, picking Wip and glared at the newcomer.

"Did I tell you that you could use my baby?" she said, sarcastically.

"You didn't?"

"No, I didn't. And she doesn't like sand."

"Don't worry, Maxie, I've been extra careful. Nice swimsuit by the way, quite revealing."

"Alec!" Blushing, Max put Wip against her chest, trying to cover her un-military white lace bra and boy-shorts. She should have known better than keep them from her latest mission.

"Why are you here?"

"Your team is the last one I have to check on, thanks to your baby. And don't worry I'll tank it later."

"Who is nearby?"

"Milan is three miles north, Bee, four miles north-east and Skar, with Ben, six miles east. How long did it take?"

"Four hours and half."

"Even with the kids?"

"We carried them."

"Lydecker is going to be impressed. Milan's team only made it so far because he borrowed a car, and the others lengthened six hours."

"Do you know the reason behind this alert?" asked Max, dressing.

Noticing Wip listening and the other kids in hearing range, Alec walked away a bit and Max followed him.

"The Wyoming facility has been wiped out."

"What?!!"

"You heard me."

"But how?"

"I don't know. It's the only thing Deck conceded to me."

"And ours?"

"Still standing."

"Is it safe for us to return?"

"Lydecker thinks so. Besides, Renfro is back. And as long as she stays there, we will probably be safe."

"So, Familiars you think?"

"They're the only ones with both the motive and the capacity."

"Hey, Max! Look at what we fished!" yelled Draco, brandishing a big fish, whereas Bilbo was carefully holding a good-sized crab.

"That's really good, kiddos. But we can't attract the attention on us, so no fire."

"Can we still eat it?" asked Ivy.

"Of course," replied Alec. "Who know how to prepare sushi? No one? Who wants to learn?"

The six kids answered affirmative.

Five minutes later, they were all copying Alec's moves with their piece of food.

"He's good with kids," murmured Brin.

"Yes, he is," assented Max, smiling.

"Max, it's for you." Wip presented Max with a piece of fish.

"Thank you, Wip. I'm sure it's delicious."

Noticing Alec's amused smirk, she glared at him, her mouth full.

"What?"

"Wip? Max, seriously?"

"It's nice," growled Max.

"It's cool," added Wip with a proud smile. "Draco thinks the same."

"Draco?" snorted Alec.

"This one is not mine. I only named Wip, Brin named Ivy, and the boys are the sole responsible for Draco, Nemo, Bilbo and Frodo."

Alec tried not to choke on his food and looked at the boys, tears in his eyes.

"What?" protested Nemo. "They're manly names."

"If you say so," Alec succeeded to articulate - before bursting out laughing.

"You know that tomorrow the whole facility will have names and those probably won't be the worse," said Max.

"I know. I can't wait to hear them."

They all ate their food in silence, nursed by the sound of the waves crashing on the sand. It was peaceful.

"You know, I would never have imagined this picture of Manticore," said Brin, softly.

Max only nodded in assent.

"I'm glad…" resumed Brin after a moment. "Alec is a good man."

"Hush he'll hear you and we don't need his ego to inflate even more. But you're right, he is."

"You're lucky."

Max raised an eyebrow. "For?"

"Him. He's crazy about you."

Max snorted.

"Come on, don't tell me you haven't noticed the way he looks at you - or cares for you."

"He's my best friend, Brin. He looks at me in a best friend way. I swear I don't understand what you smoked, you and Jondy. Is that some kind of 09er weed?"

"Did Jondy, by chance, tell you something?"

"She calls him "my boy"."

"Well, he is."

"No, he isn't."

"Would you?"

"What?"

"Would you want him to be your boy?"

"You're crasy, you know that?"

"I take that for a No."

"Sure, it's a No. We're not like that."

"So, you wouldn't have any problem with a girl making a move on him?"

"Of course not."

"Good."

They stayed silent a moment.

"Why?" asked Max finally, a slight frown on her face.

"Just making sure. I wouldn't want you to be mad at me."

"For what?"

"Making a move on him."

"You want to make a move on Alec?!"

"Hush, he'll hear you!" Brin repeated Max's previous sentence, but her laughing eyes could have told anyone that she was joking. Problem was; Max wasn't looking.

"But why?"

Brin wondered if Max was aware of the slight desperation in her voice.

"Because he's a good man; he's sexy as hell, he's funny, he's loyal and faithful, he has a great smile - and a great ass, he's intelligent and caring, and brave, and…"

"Okay, okay, okay! Don't write his panegyric right now. I can see that you want him. Go for it."

"You're sure that's okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" replied Max between gritted teeth.

A moment of silence later, Max rose.

"I'll be back," she said and walked away, her hands clenched in fists.

Alec moved a little and looked at Brin.

"I couldn't help but hear some words," he said uneasy.

Brin laughed.

"Don't worry, Alec, I'm not going to jump on you. You're great, but you're not my type."

The X5 sighed in relief and Brin chuckled.

"So, what was that for?"

"Nothing, I'm just messing with my sister's mind."

"What are you trying to do?"

"It's not obvious? To push you two together."

"You shouldn't do that, Brin. Your sister will never see me as someone other than her friend."

"Do you want to? To be someone else?"

"Yeah…" he answered sadly. "But she won't. And it's okay that way."

"You really are something, Alec. And I'm not giving up. Be sure that as soon as Jondy is released from Psy-Ops, the Operation Open Max's Eyes will be unstopped until it's successful."

Alec shook his head and sighed; Brin was a nutcase, there was no way in Hell that Max would be ever ready to have a romantic relationship with someone, least at all with him.

"Speaking of Max, where is she?" asked the Asian X5.

Alec raised his head and spotted her. The moon was high and lighted the calm sea. A head could be seen emerging regularly at its surface.

"Swimming," he answered, and smiled pensively.

††††††††

They had made it back on the facility right on time, and the rest of the day had been spent like the alert had never occurred. Renfro hadn't been happy to learn that her whole contingent of X-series had been sent into hiding, but as no one was missing and they were all back for 0700, she couldn't protest all that much.

Max had been right, the X5's had taken care of naming the youngsters and there was even an X7, Seth's clone, who had been christened Bozo. She hadn't been delighted by the name, far from it.

She was still grumbling about it, telling that Seth would be offended, while waiting with the rest of her unit for Lydecker's arrival. At least, she wasn't thinking about Brin's words anymore.

"Is there a problem, Max?" asked Lydecker when he noticed that she stood at attention in his entrance and had her soldier face on.

She started.

"Oh, nothing, Deck!"

"Are you sure?"

"They just named him Bozo," she mumbled and the unit snickered.

"Him would be?"

"Seth's X7 clone."

"Oh, I see. Good choice." Lydecker smiled at Max's outraged face. "So, now that Max's mind is back with us, we can proceed with the reason of our gathering. I suppose that Alec told you that the Wyoming facility has been erased of the map by our dear friends, the Familiars."

One look at the soldiers told Lydecker that they were indeed enlightened.

"Our mole told us yesterday than one of our North-Western facilities would be attacked, thus the alert. While you were all running through the woods, a missile has been launched towards the Wyoming base and the Phallanx were sent there to finish the work. I'm afraid to say that there were no survivors. The few soldiers sent in away missions have been told to return here. We don't know how many they are, nor when they will arrive. We will have to welcome them when they do."

No one said anything, and Lydecker resumed.

"When contacted after the attack, our mole told us that they don't know our exact location, which would explain why they haven't already targeted us. It has to stay that way as long as possible."

Incomprehension and doubt showed on the soldier's faces.

"I'm sorry, sir, but how can you expect for us to achieve this objective? With Director Renfro here, they're sure to find us in no time," said Alec.

"While we know that Renfro is working for both sides, or even three, we also know that she had always kept her work here - secretly. In other words, they know that she's in charge of a X-series facility, but they don't know where. They probably thought that the Wyoming base was hers."

"Isn't Director Renfro going to be a threat, sir?" asked Freya.

"She could be; that's the reason why she's going to stay here, with no way to contact the exterior."

"I bet she's going to love that," snickered Puck.

Lydecker ignored the interruption and went on.

"The missile was launched by a Russian satellite, and they claim that an hacker took control of it. We're going to assemble a team to survey and control the satellites that could watch us; we don't want the Familiars to find us because our morning drills don't look like they're made by hospitalized veterans. In the meantime, we are going to look for a place to regroup in case we get attacked. If you have any proposition, don't hesitate, my door is open…" Lydecker looked through his files, then resumed. "CB, I see in your evaluation report that you're our best hacker so far."

A small blush appeared on the Berber soldier's face; he wasn't used to compliments.

"You'll lead our security team. These are the files of your fellow soldiers with writing programs or hacking skills, I want you to pick the ones you think will be needed. Any questions?"

"No, sir!"

"You're dismissed."

CB stood up and after a last glance at his friends and proud mate, left the room.

"If the mole warned you before the attack, why wasn't the Wyoming facility evacuated?" Max wondered.

"Because we weren't able to reach Director Maiden in time. The alert only went off 15 seconds before the missile was launched. If she had lived, I would have killed her myself for sleeping through her call."

No one said anything, but the same thought was in every soldier's mind; if she hadn't been an ordinary, she would have heard her phone ringing and the facility would have been evacuated earlier, and most of the lives of its inhabitants would have been saved.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

A new routine had been installed lately; the morning drills were the same, but every three afternoons the same teams from the alert were gathered on the training field and then dispatched by the trainers to follow specific drills.

Ten teams were currently regrouped under Max's orders. They had been instructed to act like confronted to ordinaries; they had to act like ordinaries kids themselves in order not to attract any unwanted attention. So far, each team had come with their own story of why they were together and alternately tried to trick the other teams into blowing their covers. There had been only few close calls.

Leaving Brin supervising her group, Max patrolled between her fellow soldiers. Trainer Dilligan had left her in charge; he was wanted elsewhere and she was an obvious choice. She was used to command, respected by the whole facility, and had spent three years in the outside, trying to blend with the ordinaries.

"Okay, soldiers. That's enough for today. Now I want the X7's and X8's to go to the laundry and pick two sets of ordinary clothing, including shoes and a backpack. Your assignment will be to custom them. I want your appearance to reflect your personality in our next training-session. If you don't find something you think you need, ask your team's CO. Any questions? Good, dismissed."

The young soldiers left in a hurry; they might be trained to be cold-blooded killers, but they were still kids and couldn't neglect an opportunity to disguise themselves.

Max turned towards the older X-series, who were now regrouped by their usual units, and faced the X6's.

"I want you to split into two groups and play hide and seek. Alpha Group will go into hiding through the base, Beta Group will have to find and neutralize the Alpha members. The other soldiers have to be considered as ordinaries or possible enemies. I want you to act like it wasn't an exercise. In the real world, Beta could be Familiars or Reds or soldiers from other organizations. You'll switch role at our next training. Questions?"

"Do we get weapons?" asked Kestrel.

"No and I don't want anyone permanently damaged. Anything else? No? Split now."

The twenty X6's complied; while a group darted and scattered through the facility, the other regrouped and waited two minutes before going after them.

Pleased so far, Max turned towards the nineteen X5's, who had used this time to chat or spar, and gathered them around her.

"What do you think of them? Are there any problems with your teams?"

"They're quite good; they're quick in learning and really obedient," said Skar.

"I'm particularly happy with my lot," explained Bee, a member of unit 7 who had no X7 in her team. "While coming from different units, the kiddies work together like they have known each other for life."

"Our two X6's spent all their time flirting; it's starting to be annoying," grumbled Billie, unit 11's tomboy.

"Do you think it would endanger your team's safety?"

"No, I don't think so, it'd even help our cover, but I'm this close to hit them."

The group laughed.

"You can always do it," said Os, winking at her in an attempt to show the girl he was on her side.

"Not interested," Billie shortly replied and Os pouted, making everyone laugh harder.

"I may have a problem with Maya," added Milan.

Max raised an eyebrow, inviting him to pursue. Maya was her X7 clone.

"She doesn't make an effort to integrate with the rest of the team. She's a loner and stays apart. Besides, she's quite the Director's puppet. Every time, someone proposed something and I asked her opinion, she told us that it wasn't allowed. She's incredibly irritating."

"Doesn't sound like you at all," Gael told Max.

"It's how she's been raised. Anyone else with the same problem with the X7's?"

"Ely is the same," answered Cadence, the best stealth soldier of unit 9 who had Zack's X7 clone in her team.

"Okay, I'll see with Deck if he could put some senses in their heads. If it doesn't work, those two would be removed from the teams. Anything else?"

The X5's shook their heads.

"All right. Who want to disturb the X6's exercise? I'm sure they could use to be ambushed by unexpected enemies."

The whole group smiled the same mischievous grin that was displayed on Max's face.

"Good. We can play both teams; that will show them that my enemy's enemy isn't always my ally. Let's start."

One hour later, the X5's and X6's were back on the training field, the X5's grinning like mad cats and the X6's not so happy with their performance. They had managed to take as many victims in the other camp as were made in theirs, until their elders had come and messed everything up.

"I don't know if I should be disappointed by your defeat, soldiers, or proud you still managed to hurt some of us and remain standing." Max told the X6's.

They were all standing at attention, their eyes front, but tiny smiles and frowns had appeared on their previously blank faces.

"I think we'll have to do this exercise more often, maybe even do it in real conditions."

Eyes snapped wide and lips grinned.

"Are you serious, ma'am?" asked one of unit 15's soldiers.

"Would you like it?"

"Sure, ma'am/Max!" replied the X6's in unison.

"I'll see what I can do. You're all dismissed, soldiers."

The teenagers and the majority of X5's walked towards their barracks, while Max, Brin, Milan, Skar, Ben, Gael, Os and Sable remained there, chatting and relaxing.

"Who's that?" Gael asked suddenly, looking at a X5, strolling nearby.

"No idea."

"Isn't that Romeo?" proposed Milan, referring to one of Skar's unit mates.

"Romeo has longer hair," explained unit 9's SIC.

"Besides he never frowns, and this one looks like he swallowed a lemon," added Ben.

"He's from Wyoming," said Brin after a look at the newcomer. "I remember him, he wasn't really nice, not that the others were friendly."

At the mention of her own hellhole, Max refrained a shiver and looked at the man closely. Her fellow unit mates unconsciously stepped closer to her, and Ben gestured for the stranger to approach.

"Who are you?" he asked him affably. Ben wasn't the one to mistreat a fellow soldier, especially not one who had lost his entire unit and base.

"X5-409."

Max paled at his designation and quickly looked away, trying to regain her composure, but her behavior hadn't escaped Os' attention, who frowned. Noticing the silhouette of Alec at the other end of the training field, he whistled at him. Their CO jogged towards them.

At this new arrival, 409 looked back and forth to Alec and Ben, a disgusted sneer making its way through his face.

"Which one of you is the traitor?"

That took Ben aback a second.

"That would be me," he still said with a proud smile.

"Alec, meet 409," said Os. "He's from the Wyoming facility." He added, his head quickly gesturing towards Max, who had an unusual blank face on.

Alec's figure lost all traces of friendliness, not that after 409's comment they were still genuine. Looking coldly at the newcomer, Alec put his arm around Max's shoulders and squeezed them.

"Interesting." He only replied, then whispered to Max: "Are you okay?"

"Not sure." She mumbled and stepped closer in his embrace.

Having heard their bout of conversation, Sable eyed 409 suspiciously. Skar was asking him how he had survived the attack.

"I wasn't there, but on a mission," was the short reply.

"Who was your unit?" asked Sable.

"Unit 6."

"Are you sure?" taunted Os. "I could have bet that you were on unit 3."

Gael and Milan stiffened and glanced at Max.

"Unit 3 has been dismantled years ago," 409's voice was cold and sharp.

"Oh yeah? What happened?" Os played dumb, and only then, Brin, Skar and Ben noticed that something was amiss with unit 8's soldiers.

"None of your business."

"But I'm curious. You see, we heard a lot of things, and you wouldn't want us to mistreat you because of false rumors?"

"Since you're friends with traitors, I really doubt you would care." 409 replied snidely.

Some other soldiers have noted the small gathering and had rejoined them, immediately feeling the hostility emanating from unit 8's members. Those soldiers were Freya, Tennessee, Foxy, Sun, Hiro and Bret.

"Who's that?" asked Tennessee.

"409, unit 3's former member," explained Alec in a lethal voice.

Without warning, Foxy launched herself at 409 and punched his nose with all her strength only to be stopped and restrained by Sun's arms around her arms and waist.

"Let me go, Sun. This little bastard is going to pay for what he did." She roared.

"Don't bother," said the calm voice of Max. "He's not worth the trouble."

"What the fuck did I do to you?" yelled 409, holding his broken and bleeding nose and glaring at Foxy.

"To me, nothing, but for what you did to her, you don't deserve to live."

409 looked at Max, trying to remember where and when he had met her, and what he could have done to her.

"You don't even remember her," spat Foxy, still trying to free herself from Sun's embrace.

"Alec, let's go," said Max.

Alec nodded and turned around, the rest of their unit forming a barrier between Max and her former tormentor.

"Who is she?" 409 asked Hiro.

"Max."

"Her designation!"

"452."

409 looked at Max bewildered.

"Fuck, she grew up nice for a traitor. If I have known she would develop that ass, I would have waited another year to fuck her. Too bad. But maybe she'd like to have a second go."

Not believing their ears, Tennessee, Hiro and Bret stared at the arrogant asshole. Before any of them could think about punching him, Alec, Sun, Os, Ben, Brin and Gael have launched themselves at him and started beating him to a bloody pulp. None of them were slowing their punches, murderous fury glowing in theirs eyes and faces. After a while, Sun, Os, Ben, Brin and Gael were restrained by Frey, Sable, Hiro, Tennessee and Milan, albeit reluctantly. Only Alec continued to kick the limp body.

"Alec," Max said softly, putting her hand on his arm. "He's had enough."

"No, he will never have."

She smiled softly and hugged him.

"Please, we can go away with a lot, but I don't think they would let us murder one of their soldiers."

Reluctantly, Alec stepped away from the crumpled X5 and held Max tighter, sighing in her hair.

"What's happened, here!" Lydecker asked, glacial.

"We met with 409, sir!" replied Sun, simply.

Lydecker noticed the hatred in every soldier's eyes. He glanced at the bleeding soldier, laying on the floor, and frowned.

"315! Make sure that two soldiers bring that in the infirmary," he said, stressing 'that' in a disgusted voice, then turned towards Unit 8. "Dinner started ten minutes ago. You're late!"

They all stood at attention, except Max and Alec who were still holding each other tightly. Lydecker shared a look with Alec and nodded.

"Dismissed!"

Regrouping around theirs COs, the soldiers walked towards the mess hall in silence.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††

CB was in the room attributed to his team, looking a bit bored. They had created new security _programs_, which they had implanted into every satellite that could overfly them or simply glance in their direction. That would alert them if someone tried to watch them, while displaying a fake image of the place, and allowing them in the same time to look out for intruders. For this purpose, for twenty-hours, the whole facility had acted like the VA hospital and the crumpled residents they were supposed to be. It had been fun; they even had had a couple of wheelchairs to push around, and while some of them were playing nurses and patients to fool an exterior eye, the others had been gratified with only a couple of classes and the rest of the day to relax in their rec. rooms. As it had been CB who was at the origin of this idea, the whole contingent was very grateful towards him.

But now, the Berber was bored out of his mind; he only had to supervise the work of his soldiers, work that was, of course, perfect and didn't need supervision.

"CB!" the worried call of Tipi, an X6 who was assigned to watch the surrounding of the facility, woke him up from his lethargic state.

"What?"

"A military convoy is approaching!"

"WHAT?!"

CB looked at the screen, and indeed, there were twenty or so black trunks and hummers moving along the deserted road leading to the facility.

Without a hesitation, he pushed a red button displayed in evidence on the wall. Immediately, the alarms went off.

"Where do they come from?"

"I don't know, they weren't there ten seconds ago."

The girl's fingers flied on her keyboard, and CB spoke through the intercom.

"It is not an exercise, I repeat, it is not an exercise. Evacuate."

"Oh, no…"

"What?"

"The satellite has been hacked. Who is the fucker who did it?" yelled Tipi, still typing furiously.

"Leave it! We have to go!"

CB practically had to pull the girl out of the room, since she didn't want to leave without knowing how someone had breached into their defenses.

Still pulling her along, the X5 ran towards the training field, where an anxious Blondie was waiting for him.

"Why are you still here? Where are the kids?"

"Outside the fence. I couldn't leave without you."

Didn't want to upset his distressed mate even more, CB let it go.

"Where is your team, Tipi?"

"They left."

"You come with us."

His intercom buzzed.

"What's the situation, soldier?" asked the worried voice of Lydecker. His breathing was labored, as he probably was running himself.

"Twenty military trunks are coming our way, sir."

"Fuck! Evacuate now!"

"Yes, sir!"

Followed by his mate and Tipi, CB darted towards the fence and shortly after rejoined his worried team.

Meanwhile, Lydecker was closing the back doors of his hummer, and seeing with relief their two transport trunks riding towards the gates.

He jumped into his sit, and started the engine. In the back, Jondy and two nurses were rocking some crying X9's, surrounded by other distressed babies.

A short moment after they had passed the gate, the two trunks and the hummer left the main road and vanished into an old forest path.

"Why did we took this road… sir?" asked Jondy, reminding herself to add the polite "sir" at the end.

"Because the enemy is arriving by the other."

They drove for another two minutes before Lydecker's radio buzzed.

"Lydecker!" he barked.

"X7-113 reporting, sir! The enemy's trunks passed the gates, sir, and parked into the facility. Soldiers are stepping out of them." The X7 was one of the three liaisons between the unit B1, B2 and B3, and Command, one of the few able to speak.

"Soldiers? What kind of soldiers?"

"X-series, sir!"

"Are you sure, soldier?"

"Yes, sir! They have barcodes, sir, and are dressed in our usual fatigues, sir!"

"Stay in alert, soldier!"

Lydecker called the trunk's drivers and told them to stop; they then carried the babies from the hummer to the first trunk.

"What are you doing?" Jondy asked him.

"I have to make sure it's not a trick."

"I'm coming with you!"

"I don't have time for this, Jondy, I won't have time to stop you from escape."

"I won't escape! But you're not going there by yourself! It's not safe!"

Ignoring his protestations, the redhead jumped into the passenger seat.

"Are we going or not?... Sir!"

Frowning, Lydecker climbed into the car and started.

"I swear, Jondy, if you try to escape, I'll kill you myself."

"Yeah, yeah, Deck! Now, drive! We have fifty distressed babies, who'd prefer being back in their cribs more than staying in a smelly trunk."

Not long after, the hummer passed the deserted checkpoint and entered the facility. Lydecker parked it close to another, and, escorted by Jondy, made his way towards the main field, where he could see were gathered ten or so X-series units.

"What the fuck are you doing here!" he yelled, while coming closer. "Who is in charge? Who is responsible for this invasion?"

A bald man came to meet him.

"Colonel Lydecker, I'm Isaac Herrington, I'm the director of the Vermont facility."

"Director? What happened to Kelley?"

"He has been shot four days ago. I was his deputy."

"Sorry for Kelley, congratulation on your advancement!" Lydecker said, sarcastically. "Now, explain to me, what the fuck are you doing in my facility?"

"Kelley's death compromised our safety. We had to leave before the Familiars launched another attack on us."

"Why here? Why not in Virginia? Or in Minnesota?"

"You were the farthest, so the safest. And I knew that they don't know about your existence."

"Yeah, that's why, you came here and, by doing this, left a shining trail for them to find us too."

"We have been careful!"

"Twenty trunks? Do you think that was careful?"

"We used secondary roads, and were invisible on satellite surveillance. I may be only director for a couple of days, but I know how to assure the safety of my men!" Herrington replied coldly, and that seemed to shut Lydecker up. Only for a second, of course.

"We'll see… I suppose you have some computer specialists in your men?"

Herrington nodded.

"Good, there is a room full of equipments waiting for them. I want them to check that no one find your trail. I don't want to endanger 'the safety of my men' either!"

Jondy chuckled at Lydecker's sarcasm.

"Jondy, you know where CB's room is, I'm sure."

Jondy looked at him, innocently.

"You don't fool me. Show them, and hurry. Like you said, we have babies to put in bed."

"Yes, sir!" She replied, in her best soldier's voice, but winked at him in the same time.

"Hey geeks, follow me!" She then left, and some soldiers obeyed her orders.

"Colonel?" asked Herrington. "Where are you soldiers? And your guards?"

"Where do you think they are? A suspect military convoy approached our base. They evacuated, of course."

Lydecker's phone rang.

"Lydecker!" He listened a moment to his interlocutor, replied shortly, then hung up.

"Well, it seems that you are going to stay here for a while, Herrington. The Vermont place is burning as we speak."

While the X-series nearby had heard Lydecker's words for sure, they didn't react in any way.

"They're weird, your kids," he mumbled. "Renfro would love them."

"Another missile?"

"It seems so. Speaking of the witch…" Lydecker walked away and dialed a number.

"Tennessee, how is she doing?"

"She's fussing, sir. We had to tie her up."

"Knock her down, if she's too much trouble. You can bring her back, it looks like it was a false alert, again."

"I beg you pardon, sir, but are you sure?"

"Yes, I am, soldier!"

"I apologize, sir. We'll be here soon."

Lydecker closed his cell and came back towards his bald invader.

"Director Renfro is coming!" he smirked.

Herrington only nodded; it wasn't like he didn't know that the Colonel really was the one in charge, instead of Elizabeth Renfro.

"Jondy!" Lydecker barked when he noticed the redhead trying to enter another building unseen.

Reluctantly, she stopped and made her way back to the Colonel.

"Where were you going? Do you miss your cell that much, or is it the Psy-Ops walls?"

She snorted. "I want to check on Joshua."

"Is he still here?"

"It's not like he's able to leave; you locked the basement. Besides, he won't leave the others behind."

Jondy didn't even try to conceal the reproach in her voice. She didn't want to leave her friend there, but it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. The nomalie's safety was far from being a priority.

A X5, who had followed Jondy into the building before, came back to report. There hadn't been any trace of their journey, and they hadn't been spotted. The only leak in their security had been when CB's team's program had bested their own and allowed Tipi to catch them.

It was safe for the X-series in hiding to return.

Lydecker's cell rang again.

"Lydecker!"

"Sir, what is the situation?" asked Alec.

"You can tell them to come back. It was a false alert."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and Alec?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I hope they won't mind, but you're going to be a bit crowded here."

"Sir?"

"You'll see." Deck chuckled, hanging up.

"Jondy, after you check on Joshua, I'll charge you to find a sleeping solution for our invitees?"

"Me?"

"Yes. I'm not stupid; I know that you wander through the place with Max every other night. You know where the dorms are."

"But… there aren't enough vacant dorms or cells for all of them."

"I'm sure the X5's won't have a problem to share their cells with their unit mates. I know that Max and Alec wouldn't." He added with an amused grin.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N:** So? Love? Hate? Review!!!

Merry Xmas !! If you want me to be happy, please review. I will love you forever. :-D


	13. Terminal Move?

Title: Broken doll

**Title:** Broken doll

**Author**: Shanee

**Pairing**: M/A (yeah finally we're getting there)

**Rating:** PG 13 for language and suggestive situations.

**Setting:** AU, after the escape of 2009. But you could say the summer between Season 1 and 2.

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own DA's characters. So don't sue me; I'm broke. I only own my own characters.

**A/N:** So here the 13th chapter, but unfortunately it's not the last one. I know I said I would end this fic now, but I still need to add some moments, and there is another character that has yet to make his (re-)entrance. But at least, there are some M/A moments now. Who am I kidding; t's all a big M/A moment. I hope you'll like them, and sorry if I update slowly, but I can't really write "one day Max and Alec opened theirs eyes, realized they were perfect for each other and lived happily ever after", can I?

It's quite a long chappie too, not as long as the latter, but still. I hope you'll love it, and remember I need your reviews.

**FaithlessGirl**, **solo23**,** patricia**,** Bella1992**,** demanda230**, **Mari22Ana**,** YokoYuyGal**,** Larabiehn**,** akka**,** Sliver of Melody**,** xJazminex**, **452max**, **dushala**, **anony**: Thank you so much. Here is the update. Sorry for the delay.

**The Blind Apprentice**: Thank you so much. I like the idea of more transgenics and transhumans around the country. In the show, Max, Zack, Syl, Krit and Lydecker attacked the Wyoming facility at the end of the first season, in the episode _"and Jesus brought a casserole",_ and burned the lab. In the season 2's premiere, Renfro torched the Seattle facility. It was implied that the inhabitants of the Wyoming base had been moved into the Seattle base.

**Vampiress-06**: Of course I didn't kill Ben; I liked the character. Who doesn't love Jensen Ackles, anyway? Who is the "he" who's an ""? Alec? Deck?

**jadedcutie494**: I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the compliment about the names, I couldn't help myself, I had to create some.

Concerning Renfro and the Familiars, I already introduced them and their link at the end of the chapter "Missions", when unit 8 had to find the missing son and marrow donor of a senator, married to a Familiar. The Familiars are only a pretext to disturb the peace of the facilities. I don't intend to give them more importance, so don't expect a big fight between Max or Alec and White. **Also, **I don't think I will write a lot about Max's singularity as a chosen one. It's just background.

**grayceg**: Thank you. I don't know how this line came to my mind, but I found it pretty funny, myself. There is more Max and Alec stuff coming, don't worry.

**alex1156**: I'm glad you liked it so much. It's sweet music to my ears to read that I made you laugh and cry. Thank you.

**llboo**: I hope you'll like the update, but I'm sorry to say that I probably won't update soon. I'm suffering from writer's block now. Anyway I will update and end this story, even if it takes months.

**vintage.soul494**: thank you for your offer, but finally my beta found time to edit it, so maybe another time. Thank you again.

For all who read my other stuff, I'm glad to say that I finally manage to finish my Veronica Mars fic _J'veux du soleil_ and that as soon as it'll be edited, I'll post it.

I will finish _Broken Doll _I swear.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**Terminal Move?**

"It can't continue!" Sable furiously groaned, storming into her unit's briefing room, where Max, Freya, Sun, Jason and Alec were currently discussing about the possible other places to transfer the facility.

It was late in the night, almost 2 am, and Sable had had an exhausting day. She wasn't in the mood to deal with that.

"What can't continue, Sabby?" Jason asked, even if like everyone else, he had a pretty good idea of what was bothering the beautiful girl.

"These sleeping arrangements! I won't spend another night sharing a cell with that dumbass, I refuse!"

"What did Biggs do this time?" inquired Max, trying to restrain her amused sigh.

"He invited that stupid 742. It reeks her cheap perfume!"

Knowing that the Vermont X5's played it by the book, the present soldiers doubted they would wear contraband, and the Queen of Sheba-looking 742 wasn't enough rebellious - yet, to even dare use something like perfume.

Luckily for Sable, Os, Puck or Sprite weren't present to call her on her overreaction and obvious jealously, but it didn't stop Freya and Max to share a knowing look.

"Did he?"

"Yes!" Sable was outraged. "He can't even respect me by not fucking another girl in the room we share. I'll beg you, please, find a place quick or else I'm going to kill him."

"You can always come in my cell, Os is never there anyway," proposed Jason.

Alec frowned, but before he could tell them that it wasn't a good idea, Sable was hugging the blond man.

Sighing, Alec turned his attention back to the map he was studying before his upset friend's entrance. Biggs wasn't going to like the new arrangement, but maybe it would force him to stop acting like the idiot he was far from being.

"I think it could work, Max. We'll ask Lydecker tomorrow, and see if we can send a team to assess the place's condition. Good idea."

Max smiled.

"Where?" Sable asked, her interest awoken.

"Seattle. There is this abandoned place in the middle of the city. It's surrounded by buildings occupied by ordinaries, so Familiars couldn't destroy it with no one knowing. It's really huge; they would have to launch several missiles if they wanted to erase it, and we would have enough places for new arrivals, in case the other facilities were attacked. It's bordered by sea at North-West; that way we could always be shipped somewhere else quickly. It's under military control, which is perfect for our cover of military base."

"And why is it abandoned?"

"Irradiated wasteland. Ordinaries can't live there long," Max explained.

"Do you really think Lydecker, Herrington and Renfro would accept to be poisoned for our pretty eyes?"

"They don't have to live on the base, the buildings around are safe. Besides, we can't always extend the limits of TC a bit."

"TC?"

"Short for Terminal City, it's the name ordinaries gave to this place."

"It's a lot better than all the propositions we had before. I hope it will work."

"Okay, meeting adjourned. It's late. And you people need your beauty sleep," said Alec.

His friends nodded and left, Max staying behind to write a last idea.

"Are you going to bed, or is Jondy waiting for you?"

Max smiled slightly and stretched.

"Nuh-uh. I'm tired. Why? Do you need the cell for yourself tonight? Have a date?" She teased him playfully.

"Well, yes, in fact I have." Alec replied, keeping a straight face.

"What?" Max's face fell, for a second. "Oh, I didn't know… I… I can leave if you want, I mean of course, I'll leave, I won't stay, it would be… Okay, I'll go now…"

Not able to restrain himself any longer, Alec burst out laughing. "Relax, Max, I was kidding. Of course, I don't have a date. Jeez, I'd think you know me better."

"You could…" Max's face was flushed, but her eyes reflected a bit of sadness, "… have a date, I mean. You're a normal man, you probably have needs, and I never saw you with a girl. Do you prefer boys?"

Alec chuckled, intensely amused by Max's rambling.

"No, I don't. Thanks for putting this image in my head. I'm definitely not into men. But I don't want any g… a girl," he corrected quickly.

"Why?"

Alec swore he was going to kill Brin and Jondy, or at least make them suffer a lot. If it wasn't for their stupid 'distress Max' plan, he was sure they wouldn't have this conversation, and he couldn't stand to seeing the obvious fear and gloom in Max's eyes.

"Is that because of Rachel?"

"No, it's not, Max."

"Don't lie to me. I know you loved her."

"I did, but…" _Fuck Brin, I'm so going to kill you._ "But she's not the one I'm in love with. She never was."

There he had said it.

"Oh…" And Max's face fell again, imperceptibly this time, but still enough for an X5 to notice. Alec cursed himself silently.

"That's… good I think. I'm glad for you. Does she love you, of course, she does, who wouldn't, she would be a fool not to…"

Despite his anger towards himself, Alec couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Max's words. Did that mean…? No, of course not.

"Thank you Max, but I don't think she does," he said, looking directly into her eyes, "or does she?"

He added the last part in a whisper, a whisper that Max wasn't certain she had heard, despite her transgenic hearing, and even less certain of its meaning.

"I… I'm going to see Jondy," she said with a fake smile.

"You are? Well I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later." With a last tight smile, Max left the briefing room.

Alec remained at his place against the main desk for a while, his blank eyes fixing an invisible point on the opposite wall.

A deep sigh escaped his mouth, and Biggs appeared at the door.

"Hey, Alec, did you see - What happened to you? You look like your doggy died and it was your fault, except well… you don't have a dog."

"Nothing…"

"Come on, I'm your best friend, am I not? What happened?"

"Nothing."

"What did Max do this time?"

Alec glared at his friend. Was he that transparent?

"Nothing!"

"And obviously that's the problem."

"Biggs, just shut up!"

The Italian raised his hands in mock-surrender.

"All right, all right, grouchy."

"Who were you looking for?"

"Sable. She's not in our cell."

"Did you really have to fuck 742 there?"

"I didn't. I swear, I didn't. She accidentally ripped her shirt in the corridor, and me, being a gentleman, told her she could stay in our cell while I was fetching her another one at the laundry."

"Well you're in trouble with Sable, she could smell her in your room and didn't like it one bit."

"Where is she?"

"In Jason's cell."

"I'm going to kill that rat!"

Leaving Biggs running towards his death, or at least a good beating by his enraged heat-partner, Alec made his way back to his own cell. As soon as he stepped in, he heard Sable's furious yells covering Biggs' insults to Jason. He sighed, half-amused, half-annoyed, and inhaled Max's lingering scent. His smile fell when he remembered their previous discussion. He was really going to have a chat with Brin and Jondy.

††††††††††††††††††††††

Max never came back to the cell to sleep, neither this night nor the next ones. She hadn't gone to Jondy's cell either, preferring to use all her pent-up feelings to beat a punching-bag to destruction, and the next day, she had offered to be on the recon team, to which Lydecker had agreed.

Alec couldn't help but have a bad feeling about that. After all, Seattle was the place where she had suffered the most since she had been transferred, and he didn't want her to be there without protection. He overreacted, he knew that, but that still hadn't stopped him from worrying. He had made sure that the other members of the team were aware that if something, anything at all, happened to Max, he would dismember them himself and feed the guard dogs their remains.

He had also put his veto on Brin's presence in the team, and Max had been quite unhappy with him, not believing his excuse of needing her here. He could suffer Max's wrath, but he didn't want Brin to upset her even more. He still hadn't had his talk with the troublesome matchmakers and till he hadn't convinced them to give up their foolish idea, there was no way in Hell that they would have another opportunity to bother Max.

The team, consisting of Max, Sun, Foxy, Milan, unit 7's SIC Icare and another female X5 named Cece, had left the facility three days ago and weren't expected before tomorrow. And the remainders of unit 8 couldn't wait, as their CO had been in an insufferable mood these last days, and they were sick of it. Even Lydecker had noticed it.

"Is there something wrong, son?" He asked the young man he had summoned in his office.

"Nothing, sir!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. It's just I don't like having men outside, not when we could be attacked at any time."

"I understand. I don't like it either… How is your unit doing?"

"They're doing fine, sir."

"Do they accommodate with the latest changes? Their new neighbors? The sleeping arrangement?"

"They will, sir. Concerning the neighborhood, we are infinitely glad to have a Vermont unit and not the Wyoming remainders."

Lydecker chuckled.

"I wouldn't have done that. I couldn't see how to explain their deaths if I had."

In all, only eight soldiers from the Wyoming facility had made it to the base so far, and quickly the word had spread that they had once, to different extents, hurt Max. Since, they had been given the wide berth, and remained close to each other. The bastard 407 was still displaying traces of his injuries, and never walked alone in fear that someone else added new ones. The Vermont newcomers had quickly understood that it wouldn't do them any good to be friendly with the ostracized soldiers; these were cold and conceited for one, and they didn't want to be shunned by their hosts. It was also well-known that the Colonel himself despised them.

Would the Wyoming soldiers have showed some respect and affability towards the Seattle facility's residents, it probably would have been different, only 407 would have been ostracized, but they hadn't and now they had to suffer the consequences of their past actions and arrogance.

"How many soldiers does unit 8 have?"

Alec was well aware that the Colonel knew the answer, but he replied nonetheless.

"Seventeen, sir. Ten men and seven women, I included."

"I was thinking about transferring another soldier to your unit. What is your opinion?"

Years had passed since the fist time Lydecker had asked Alec for his opinion, which he was now used to. But that didn't mean that the feeling had changed, he was always pleased when the Colonel deemed him reliable.

"We could do with it. Currently, we're an uneven number, and sometimes it impairs us. But wouldn't another unit need this member more? Unit 7 are fourteen, and units 9 and 12 are fifteen."

"Unit 12 are incompetent morons lead by an even more inept CO. I'm not going to give them this promising soldier, they would be able to injure her. Unit 7 is not better… You don't agree, Alec?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but the members of Unit 7 have potential, they're just…" Alec stopped, not knowing if he had overpassed his boundaries.

"Finish your thoughts, you know I like your honesty."

"They don't have the CO they deserve."

"I know that, but Renfro is stubborn. I don't know why but she refuses to demote 446."

"Darcy is her puppet, sir. He does everything she wants. He's shallow and weak, albeit he's proud. Unit 7 listens more to his SIC than to him, but Icare can't disregard the ranks, he's not rebellious enough to."

"Nice résumé. But still I won't send her there. This soldier needs a strong unit. And before you argue and tell me that Tennessee and Sai have strong units, I'll tell you my real reason for transferring her to your unit. I don't want her to be under Renfro's orders, for her sake, our sake and this facility's sake."

"I'll see. When could we expect Jondy to join us, sir?"

Lydecker inwardly smiled. This kid was something.

"Well, now."

The Colonel stood up.

"Oh, and Alec, just for you to know, Jondy is the one behind your current official sleeping arrangement."

While Alec rose, he could swear he had seen a tiny mischievous grin appear for a millisecond on Lydecker's face.

The Colonel opened the door adjacent to his office and gestured for Alec to enter. There was Jondy, sitting at a desk, furiously writing numbers and words on a notepad.

Lydecker cleared his throat and the girl jumped, startled.

"Don't you know the golden rule, Deck? Never startle a X5, it's not good for your life expectancy."

"Could you at least pretend that Psy-Ops worked?" asked a slightly exasperated Colonel.

"Nope. You said yourself that I don't fool you. I don't see why I should bother. Oh, hi, Alec, I didn't see you. What's up?"

Noticing that Lydecker was looking ready to explode, Alec stepped in.

"You're coming with me. You're transferred to Unit 8."

"Cool. I didn't expect less of you, Deckie. By the way, here you'll find _my _solution for _their_ transfer. You'll see that it's feasible, and it won't even cost you much. Bye." She blew him a kiss.

She then left the room, leaving a quite bewildered and anxious Alec, and, of course, a red Lydecker behind.

"Deckie? Deckie?" grumbled Lydecker, raising his voice. That was Alec's clue to leave, quickly. "DECKIE??"

Spotting Jondy waiting for him in the corridor while looking at her nails, Alec grasped her arm and hurried her along.

"We have to talk, crazy girl!"

††††††††††††††††††††††††††

Alec had found Brin in unit 10's rec. room, annoying the hell out of one of her unit mates through beating him at chess, and had ordered her to follow him and a scorning Jondy. None of the girls were pleased with the boy's attitude, but at least, they would wait for them to be out of earshot before giving him an earful, well Jondy would, since it wasn't in Brin's manners to disrespect a higher ranked soldier, and even less when she estimated the said soldier. But they were still pissed.

"What's wrong, Alec?" asked finally Brin when the man hustled them into an empty classroom.

"We need to talk."

"We already have that covered," ironized Jondy. "Now, do you care to elaborate a bit?"

"I want you to stop your little plan."

"Which plan?" Jondy asked, genuinely confused.

"Your plan concerning Max and me. It has to stop."

"Why? Don't you like her?"

"That's not the question."

"Of course, it is. You like her, she likes you but she's too stubborn to ever act on it. We meddle, you end up together, and voilà."

"First of all, you don't know if she likes me."

"Yes, we know!"

"No, you don't. Max doesn't like me in that way. I'm her friend, that's all, and that's good enough."

"Bullshit. She likes you a lot, a lot more than what is authorized in this place. Joshua knows, Brin knows, Foxy knows, every X-5 knows, hell, even Lydecker knows. That you don't want to believe it I can understand, since she won't do anything if we don't help her, but still she loves you."

Alec snorted, in disbelief, and Jondy shook her head at his stubbornness.

"Brin? Help me there."

"Well, Alec, Jondy is quite right. Max does like you a whole lot, she's probably not completely aware that she loves you more than in a friendly way, but she's taking the long road to realization."

"You're not helping," Alec said, after a short moment of silence.

"Pardon?"

"You only make it worse. She doesn't know what to think anymore; she's distressed. She's closing up to me now. You're upsetting her, and I won't let you continue. I want the carefree Max back, not that empty shell always wondering if she still can trust me. Now, I won't tell you twice. Back off, or I'm going to make sure you don't upset her any more in anyway, even if that means that I will prevent you from talking or seeing her."

"You can't do that!" protested Jondy.

"Watch me!" Alec warned her, and Brin motioned for her sister to keep it quiet. She knew how powerful Alec really was, despite his happy constitution, and his threats weren't to be taken lightly.

"So, do we understand each other?"

"Yes, sir!" replied Brin, in soldier-manner, then nudged her sister.

"Yes, Alec!" grumbled Jondy.

"Good. You can go, Brin. Jondy, follow me to the gym. I want to see by myself in which condition you are."

Jondy only nodded and complied, a bit worried about Alec's intention. She did know that he was Manticore's Top Dog, and that she was far from being a worthy opponent, even with Max's late at night training.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

The first trunks were reported to be arrived without any unwanted trouble, and the last two were scheduled to leave base at 2200 this evening. This done, there would be no transhumans locked in the basement after tonight; when the last alert would be given, they would be miles away, in safety, and not waiting anymore for the bombs to kill them. The remaining half of the X6 unit 14 was to go with them, as their recent return from their mission hadn't allowed them to be trained for the evacuation plan, and rejoin their unit mates who had been sent to escort the first convoy, under the surveillance of ten or so unemployed X5's. The X9's were to follow and their departure was planned for tomorrow. They would be accompanied by the whole medical staff and half of the guards. Since ordinaries couldn't live inside TC's fences, and because the Committee would never allow their soldiers to play baby-sitters for their latest creations, it had been decided that they would occupy one of the two corvettes that were now moored on the newly built pier of TC.

The remaining soldiers would have to leave the base during the next ten days, by little groups in order to avoid attracting attention. They only have to hope now that the Familiars wouldn't find them and launch their attack prematurely.

The base was under an extreme tension those days. The soldiers were often seen looking at the sky or the woods with wary eyes, the guards weren't better; they couldn't help but watch them uneasily, expecting them to snap at any time, and the guard dogs were always barking or crying in distress. Many of the ordinaries of the facility were suffering from headache, while some of X-series were quite nervous. Consciously or not, the young soldiers clustered around their team's CO and SIC, as though they would have to escape immediately. When lights out came, the youngest soldiers showed their reluctance to leave their elders and many X5's had to lead them to their dorms and reassure them, to tell them stories and tales until they finally fell asleep. Even the perfect Vermont soldiers looked a tad jumpy, but as they only needed their twenty trunks to leave, a lot of them were already gone.

When the last camions finally left and Lydecker had dismissed them after a brief meeting, Alec and Max walked towards their cell in silence. Since Max's return, two days ago, it was the first time they were alone together, and neither he nor she knew what to say to ease the awkwardness between them.

"So, Maxie, what's up?" asked finally Alec in an effort to kill the uncomfortable silence.

Max looked at him, with startled eyes. She had been musing about her relationship with him and what Brin had told her - again, and she had almost forgotten that he was walking beside her. Hoping that he hadn't any clue about the direction of her thoughts - lately, when she wasn't concentrating on the task at hand, Brin's words and Alec's face were the only things in her mind -, Max hurried an answer.

"The sky?"

Alec looked at her strangely. She wasn't the one for this kind of smart reply; he was the one named Alec, not her after all.

"No, seriously, we haven't had time to talk since your return. Did everything go smoothly there?"

"You were here for the report, you heard it."

"I know. I was thinking more about you, your feelings, it was your first time in Seattle since your mission, and I want to know if you are really okay."

"I'm a big girl Alec. I thank you for your concern, but everything is fine." Max couldn't help it, her tone was cold, and it didn't escape Alec's attention. Without a word, he stopped her walk, pulled her into his arms and held her close.

"I'm sorry, Maxie," he whispered into her hair.

Max knew that it was a friendly hug, and that he needed it almost as much as she needed it, and she forced herself to relax in his embrace.

"I'm sorry", he repeated.

"It's okay, Alec. It's not your fault."

He chuckled coldly. Of course it was his fault; if he hadn't screwed up his mission, he would have kept his words and Max wouldn't have had to seduce her target. Sure he had liked Rachel, but he loved Max more, and Rachel's life wasn't worth Max's suffering. It was harsh? Probably, but he hadn't been conceived to be kind, and Max's safety and happiness would always come first.

"It's really not your fault. If you want to blame someone, blame Renfro, blame Sandoval, even blame me, if I hadn't be so stubborn, wanting to be so perfect, I would have managed to screw up this mission a long time before I have to say yes. Really, you didn't do anything."

"That's the problem."

"Alec, it's okay, and beside, it's in the past. It's done, and we can't change anything. We can just forget it and move on."

She held him tighter and he kissed her hair softly.

"I promise you, I'll never let someone else hurt you."

Max laughed.

"We're soldiers, Alec. Of course, I'm going to be hurt, and you can't help it."

"I'm not talking about physical injuries, Max, and you know it. Nobody will pain you, not if they want to live. I swear."

Max smiled at him and gently kissed his cheek.

"Thank you. You're the best friend a girl could dream of. Let's go, now, it's late."

"Yep, you're right. And we all know that you need your beauty sleep." He teased her, happy to see her reacting normally for the first time in weeks.

Faking outrage, Max slapped his arm and ran after him when he darted towards their barrack.

"Jerk! I need my beauty sleep? I? You're the one who spent five minutes every morning trying to arrange your hair in a perfect elaborated messed way."

Suddenly, Max found herself crashing into something, hard; That something was Alec's back, who had stopped by the entrance of their cell.

"What's the hell…!" groaned Max, then she noticed what had made Alec stop and tried to stand up, in vain since in their fall, Alec had pulled her into his arms, and now wasn't releasing her.

"Alec!"

"Humm?"

"Your arms!"

"Oh? Sorry." He replied with a sheepish smile and instead of setting her free and standing up, he budged into a more comfortable position and held her closer. "Better?"

"Alec!" she warned him between gritted teeth.

Chuckles and laughs replied to her response, while Alec seemed very much amused by the situation.

Sighing, Max turned her head and looked at their visitors.

"What are you doing here?... Ivy?"

But the X7 was trying to refrain her laughter and couldn't answer. The two boys besides her weren't any better.

"Wip?"

"We went to Brin's cell, but her roommate refused that we stay. She told us that we could come here, that you would be happy to see us."

"I saw you less than five hours ago," said Max. "So why did you go to Brin? Any particular reason?"

"Sprite and Puck accepts that their team members sleep in their cell," explained Ivy. "Wip and the boys couldn't sleep, so they came in my dorm and woke me up. But Maya forbid them to stay, and we left."

"All right. Should I expect Draco and Nemo to join us?" asked Max, resigned.

"No, they're getting busy," said Wip, proud to use a new expression.

Max opened her eyes wide, and Alec burst out laughing.

"Together?"

Wip didn't know the answer and looked at Ivy with uncertain eyes.

"No, Nemo told us that Draco was getting busy with… Shirley? Sheryl maybe, and that he himself was too old to play babysitter with us," explained the blond girl.

Max took deep breath in order to calm herself.

"I'm going to kill this boy."

"He's just a kid."

"We're going to have to lock the boys in a building and the girls in another in TC. We can't allow them to fuck like bunnies without even caring about the consequences."

"What's fuck?" asked Frodo.

"It's Fornication Under the Consent of the King," said Bilbo, and Alec choked. "It isn't sir?"

"Where did you hear that, soldier?"

"An X6 explained it to us, sir. He told us that it couldn't have any fornication between soldiers without authorization of Command. Is that incorrect, sir?"

"Not completely. Fornication is indeed forbidden for every soldiers without orders from Command."

"What's fornication, sir?" inquired Wip, with her big innocent and curious eyes.

Alec swallowed slowly and whispered at Max's ear: "I think we need to program sex-ed classes."

"I agree. We can't provide every sexually mature soldiers with morning after pill, they have to understand that they can't have sex every time their hormones woke them up. Heat is already enough trouble to endure, without adding teenage relationships in the balance. Were we like that at their age?"

"No, but Renfro was in charge, and we had far less liberty than they have had this last month. Don't worry, as soon as we will be safe in the new base, we will put some senses in their heads."

"Sir? Max?" Wip's voice reminded them that the four kids were still waiting for an answer.

"Huh… it's when two persons like each other very much, two adults, and want to… Max, help me there."

"Nuhuh. She asked you first."

"Come on, Max. I'm not an expert."

"Do you think I am?"

"No, it's not what I was saying. But it would be nice of you to help me. I don't know what to say."

"Remember Lola…"

"They're kids!" Alec whispered, and Max could swear that his cheeks flushed for a second. She laughed.

"Okay, so another girl?"

This time, Alec's face blushed longer.

"Well?"

Alec looked at his feet. He hadn't known any girl other than Lola, but he didn't know if he wanted Max to know that. He had always kept his distances from female in heat, or girls during his missions. The only reason he had had sex with Lola, was because Biggs was there and had convinced him. He rather would have Max ignoring that fact, but Max knew it. How had she learned it? He suspected Biggs' big mouth and the gossip mill that their unit was. Since the day he had learned the reason behind Max's fear, he had promised himself that she would never see something in him that reminded her of her rapists. He knew that sex was a painful subject for Max and by her not knowing that he had ever experienced it, he had been hoping that she would never compare him to the boys who had made her life a living hell. But today she was laughing at him, delighted by his nervousness and gaucheness, and she didn't seem to mind if he had had sex. On the contrary, she believed him to be a lot more experienced than he really was.

"Alec?" Max's soft voice broke his reverie. "Are you okay?"

"Of course."

"I would never have believed that today was the day when I would see the great smart-Alec being embarrassed by a kid's question," she chuckled.

"Very funny."

Wip sighed in defeat, and after a look at the bickering couple, Ivy turned towards the kids.

"Fornication is when a male and a female have sex," she explained.

"What's sex?" asked Wip.

"It's when the male put his penis inside the female's vagina."

Alec and Max looked at the blond girl and admired her uncomplicated response.

"Gross. What for?"

"I don't know. Max?" Ivy turned towards their team's CO.

"Procreation. To make babies."

"I thought we were made in lab?" asked the X7.

"We were. Sex is the normal way to breed offspring, but we aren't normal, kids, so we were made in lab; instead of the meeting between a penis and a vagina, we are the results of the meeting between a pipette and a test tube. Any other questions or can we hope to sleep this night?"

"None, ma'am."

"Good, let's sleep now."

They put the two thin mattresses on the floor and the six soldiers tried to make themselves comfortable.

Later this night, Jondy came back from her promenade and looked at the aperture in Max's door. She smiled and ran towards Foxy's cell.

"I need a camera," she said, waking the girl up.

"What?" mumbled a sleepy Sun.

"Sleep, Sun. I need a camera, and I know you have one, Fox."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your camera, the one you brought back from the recon trip and never gave back."

Foxy raised an eyebrow, not knowing how the girl knew that fact.

"I can't, I… need it?"

"You'll make your blue pictures later, Fox. Now, I really need to immortalize a scene."

Blushing, Foxy rose and pulled a camera out of her backpack.

"I'm coming with you. It really has to be worth it."

Jondy only smiled, and, together, the girls walked towards Max and Alec's cell. A peek through the opening convinced Foxy that Jondy could indeed use her camera. Ivy was sleeping with Frodo in her arms, while perpendicular at her feet, Bilbo was curled up. Wip was resting her head on Max's chest and her feet on Ivy's thighs. Max, for her part, was nestled in Alec's firm arms, her head in his neck, a happy smile on her face. Alec wasn't on the mattress anymore, but on the hard dusty floor, however he displayed the same happy smile, a smile that said that he would exchange his place for nothing in the world.

Once the picture was taken, Foxy and Jondy shared a knowing look, before going back to their respective cells.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

"Sir, we may have a problem, sir!" a Vermont X5 stormed into the briefing room where Lydecker had gathered the team's COs still present in the facility.

The twenty or so X5's looked at the intruder with wary eyes. The majority of the Vermont soldiers had already left; only one Unit and a half was still there, waiting for 0030 tonight, their scheduled departure. Until then, they were on guard duty, seeing as the last guards had left the day before.

"What is it, soldier?"

"Director Herrington left with director Renfro two hours ago, and he still hasn't contacted us, sir!"

"WHAT?! How could you allow him to leave base with Renfro, soldier?" Lydecker stood up and was livid. Nearby, Max, Sable, Tennessee and Freya shared a worried look.

"Sir, director Herrington is our director, sir! He's our command, we have to obey his orders, sir!"

"Are you stupid, soldier?"

"No sir, I don't think so, sir!"

"Renfro was our safety net, idiot. Now, that she's gone, it's only a matter of hours before the Familiars find us. Dismissed, soldier!"

"I beg your pardon, sir, but are we allowed to form a retrieving team to go after them, sir?"

"It would be useless, soldier!"

"I insist, sir. Director Herrington is our command."

"All right, form your team. We expect you to be back at the new base tomorrow for 1200, with or without Herrington. You're also allowed to terminate Director Renfro, if you find her on your way, but under no reason, you have to go after her. It's an order. Dismissed!"

The X5 finally left and Lydecker turned towards his soldiers.

"Max, your opinion?"

"Herrington is probably dead as we speak, Deck, and Renfro won't remain away from White's radars for long now, and she'll probably suffer the same demise. I think it would be smarter if we hasten the evacuation process and leave as soon as we can."

"Which would be when?"

"Immediately would be good. There are only eighteen teams present, besides the six X7's still in the woods. We're prepared and we all know the objective; it should go smoothly."

"Any objection?"

None of the soldiers spoke.

"Good, which teams want to take care of the last members of unit B3?"

The X5's looked at each other carefully; of course no one were very enthusiastic about the idea.

"I'll take one," said Max, and soon after Freya, Bee, Sable, Puck and Hiro followed her lead.

"Okay, regroup your teams. I want the base evacuated in ten minutes. Dismissed."

The soldiers stood up at attention, saluted and left. Max remained behind and walked towards the colonel.

"Deck?"

"Still here, Max?"

"Concerning the Vermont last unit, what are you going to do?"

"Well, they would have to leave sooner than planned, that's all."

"Are you going with them?"

"No, I have my own car."

"Be careful."

"Don't worry, Maxie. Besides, I have the two bodyguards you provided me."

"I don't trust them."

"You don't have to, but they're too obedient to present a threat."

"They're obedient to Renfro."

"Renfro is dead. Go, now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Max hugged the man and he kissed her forehead.

"Take care, dad." She whispered.

After a last glance at him, Max left.

Outside, her team was already regrouped around Brin, while the last soldiers were running towards the gates. Some meters away, the Asian girl from Unit B3 was standing at attention.

"What were you doing? You're late!" Brin complained.

"I'm here, now. Everyone is ready? You, come here."

The X7 approached. She was dressed in their usual fatigues, while the others kids wore the 'ordinary' clothes they had chosen.

"I'm your CO, Brin is your SIC. Your cover is to be her little sister. Ivy, here, will give you her other set of clothes. You'll put them on you as soon as we reach the edge of the forest. Understood?"

The girl nodded.

"Good, let's go. We're late."

When they passed the deserted gate, they noticed that the last Vermont X5's and X6's were climbing into a trunk, while, escorted by Maya and Ely, Lydecker strode towards his hummer.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

The Vermont team sent after Renfro and Herrington didn't have to drive long before finding what they were looking for. Just before the main road left the woods, they noticed a form in a ditch. Isaac Herrington had been shot, a bullet in the temple. Of course, there wasn't any trace of Director Renfro around, and, after taking care of their last director, the soldiers obeyed Lydecker's orders and drove towards Seattle.

The rhythm of their course through the woods allowed Max's team to make it to its bounds shortly after the sun set. Soon, the darkness of the night would surround them and they wouldn't have to wait for long before they could continue their course without attracting any unwanted attention.

The X7 had finished dressing in Ivy's spare clothes, and, since she was a bit taller than the blond girl, it looked a tad different on her. The plain skirt was quite short on her, and the t-shirt wasn't long enough to cover her navel. She was still a kid, but she did look like a little woman dressed that way, and the two X6's who would never have looked at a X7 before couldn't help but notice that the freak was a pretty girl.

"Nemo!" Max called the boy and he blushed, hoping that his CO hadn't seen his trouble.

"Yes, Max!"

"Give your sweater to Song."

The girl was perhaps unable to speak, but she wasn't silent either. She had been mumbling what sounded a lot like a lullaby since their departure, and, of course, Max had named her accordingly. But for once, no one had objected with her choice.

"Yes, Max." The reddish boy complied with little enthusiasm, but he soon felt better when Song, after putting the sweater on her and making sure that she was properly covered this time, gave him her first true smile. The exchange hadn't escaped Brin's attention, who smiled and murmured to Max: "We're going to have trouble when this lot will grow up."

"I know," groaned Max. "Okay, it's dark enough. You all remember our story. Ivy, Nemo and Draco, you're brothers and sister. Your last name is Manning. I'm your step-sister, and Wip is my daughter. Bilbo and Frodo are our half-brothers. Brin is a friend we met while driving towards Seattle where Ivy, Nemo and Draco's great aunt, Margo, is waiting for us. Song is Brin's sister and she's mute. Ivy?"

"Our dad's name is Patrick Manning, he's the son of Richard Manning whom great aunt Margo is the sister of. She married departed Jonas Cale and now lives in Seattle."

"Daddy sent us to his aunt because Mommy Clarissa is expecting another baby, her pregnancy is difficult, she already miscarried twice and the doctor prescribed her a quiet house," recited Bilbo.

"Mommy asked you Max to take care of us and make sure we arrived to Seattle without trouble," added Frodo.

"My real name is Wilhemina Parker, but everybody call me Wip. Daddy is in the Army; he's stationed near Salt Lake City, where we all come from. He asked to be transferred to Seattle and should arrive soon."

"What's your daddy's name?" asked Max.

"Alec!" said the girl proudly and every soldiers except Max and Song burst out laughing.

"Wip, it's not. Your daddy's name is James Parker."

"But I prefer Alec's name."

"Sweetie, our story has to have verifiable foundations, and there is a soldier in Salt Lake City whose name is James Parker, who is married and waiting for a transfer to Seattle. So, what's your daddy's name?"

"James Parker," replied Wip, pouting.

"Good. Draco?"

"Nemo is my fraternal twin. We're both sixteen and should attend classes in Stadium High School, we're sophomores."

"I have a girlfriend in Salt Lake and I'm not happy at all to move in Seattle. Her name is Katie, she's the most beautiful girl on earth and I'm very much in love. I intend to finish school and marry her as soon as I can," said Nemo when his turn came.

"Girls have cooties!" claimed Bilbo.

"Perfect."

While talking, they had resumed walking and were now entering a quiet sleeping town.

"For my part, I'm hitchhiking to Seattle because I hope to find there a better job, and save enough money to pay for a Private School for my sister Song," explained Brin.

Noticing a van that looked new enough to correspond as the vehicle the Manning kids would travel in, and not too new either to be equipped with a tracer still operating, Max stopped in front of the conductor door and picked the lock. Immediately Brin, Nemo, Draco, Ivy and Song walked towards a door and did the same. When the six doors were open, the kids climbed inside and fastened their seat belts; the three X8's and Ivy took place behind, then Draco, Nemo and Song in the middle, between the kid's row and the front, since they were the tallest. Brin put their backpacks and bags in the back, bags that were filled with food, weapons, and the X5's contraband that they had succeed to amass in their years (or for Brin, months) in Manticore, and wouldn't for sure leave behind if they could help it. Brin had an impressive stock of t-shirts with smart inscriptions, while Max had, between others things, an equally impressive stock of nice undergarments, which was quite weird since the girl would never show them to a man. But maybe, in addition to their sexiness, they were comfy? Brin didn't know; she was more a boxers and sport bras kind of girl herself.

Brin quickly changed the van's plaques for two from Utah with the Manning name written on them. Max had already started the car's engine when her sister climbed into the car and sat. She then drove them quickly away from this town and the van's latest owners.

Later that night, after passing several checkpoints and traversed through different sectors, Max stopped the car in a dark street. The sleepy young soldiers looked around them with enthusiastic wide eyes, while Max and Brin pulled their bags out from the car.

"Are the gates far away?" asked Bilbo, taking his backpack and putting him on his back.

"Quite, but there should be an entrance nearby. Ah, yes, there it is."

The kids looked in the direction Max was walking but only saw a dirty deadlock, probably sheltering some homeless men. Nevertheless, since Max was going there, they followed her in silence. Pushing some garbage away, she quickly found out a sewer entrance and unlocked it.

"Brin, you go first. Kids, follow."

This idea didn't seem to enchant the soldiers, but they obeyed Max's orders. Soon, she had rejoined them and picked Wip up in her arms. Draco and Nemo followed her example and carried the two other X8's. This way, they walked faster, and, less then fifteen minutes later, Brin stopped in front of a shining fence. The red eye of a camera examined every one of them carefully, then the fence automatically opened. As soon as they had passed it, it closed again. Two corridors later, Max, who had taken the lead, motioned them to climb a stair after her. Behind the door that was waiting for them at the end of the steps was a small office with a table, a computer, a chair and, to the kid's surprise, a nomalie in PJs smoking a cigar.

"Hi, Mole, nice suit."

"Max. I was sleeping two minutes ago, and I still would be wasn't it for your arrival by Corridor 9."

"Are we the first?"

"Yes, the other entrances are still clear. Well, except for the gates. The Vermont trunk arrived one hour ago."

"Good."

"Designations!" the desert soldier barked.

"X5-734."

"X6-223," replied Draco, standing at attention despite his uneasiness in the face of the lizard man.

"X6-429."

"X7-561," said Eva, and after a look at Song's barcode, added: "and X7-053."

"X8-158", murmured Bilbo.

"X8-302."

"X8-678," said Wip, reluctantly.

Mole finished typing their designations.

"What are you waiting for? I want to sleep. Move."

Chuckling, Max gestured to the kids and left.

Once outside, the kids noticed the creepy buildings surrounding them and Draco made a face.

"The Committee still hasn't given us money for renovation. It will have to wait, but if you dislike it so much, Draco, you can always use your free time to clean the streets, wash the walls and fix whatever need to be fixed."

"Sorry, Max."

"Apologies accepted. Okay, here we are. This is the X8 building, your dorms have your unit's number written on the door. I'm sure your unit mates will be happy to see you. Good night kiddos."

"Can't we stay with you tonight?" asked Wip, clinging to Max's hand.

"Sorry, Wip. It's time you sleep with your unit again. I'll see you tomorrow. Go, now."

She kissed the girl's forehead and Wip followed Bilbo and Frodo inside, but not without a last longing glance at Max.

"Well, it was cold."

"Brin, it's not like we have a choice. We may have moved out, but it still Manticore, and they're still soldiers. I can't keep them all the time with me under the pretext that they're happier that way."

"I know, but still…"

"Brin…"

"Ok, I'll keep my mouth closed."

"Better. Ivy, Song, good night, that's your building. See you tomorrow."

The two girls saluted and entered their buildings with a renewed confidence.

"Draco and Nemo, I want you to go directly into your dorm and sleep. You'll have time in the next days to explore everything or chat with your friends. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good, and Draco, if I find out that you went to Sheryl's dorm, again, you're good for the pit. Dismissed."

The boys saluted, Nemo snickering at Draco's face, and entered the next building.

"And now?" asked Brin.

"You should find Sai and your unit in the third building on your left."

"And you?"

"I'm heading to our new Headquarters, to see if everything is going well or if we already have to form a rescue team."

"Good night."

"Sleep well."

Soon after Max entered the warehouse they had chosen as HQ. There were Lydecker's office – even if he would probably spend more time in his office aboard the corvette –, what would have been Herrington's, next were Freya and Tennessee's, hers and Alec's, the one of the transhuman's CO, three briefing rooms, and the central room with CB and Dix's play area, surrounded by furniture for twenty soldiers who would be assigned at the communication center, and a sort of lounge furnished with the more usable sofas they had found. Since no ordinaries could live long in the new base and would never work there without a raise that the Committee refused to grant, it had been decided that part of their jobs would be done by the transhumans and oldest X-series. When they had submitted this idea to Lydecker, Max and Alec had doubted the Committee would ever consider it, but Lydecker had argued with them and they had finally given their accord. According to Lydecker, they had other problems on their plate and if their soldiers were ready to do the work their paid employees usually did, who were they to refuse such a considerable saving. The few ordinaries still employed in this base were living and working aboard the two corvettes; the infirmary, the Isolation cells and the X9's nursery, with the nurses and doctor's living quarters, were on the first, the classrooms and the trainer's quarters on the other.

Max entered a silent HQ, the only noise coming from the four soldiers typing on their computers.

"Is everything ok?" she asked CB.

"So far. Three other teams reached the perimeter since your arrival. And our old facility is still safe."

"Did you locate the bitch?"

"6 hours ago. She was stationary. We sent a team to retrieve her."

"Why?"

"Alec's decision. Don't worry, they found her corpse without encountering any trouble and are on their way back. Actually, they're passing the gates as we speak," rectified CB when a message appeared on his screen.

He typed different codes and suddenly a window opened, showing them a hummer parking. Alec stepped outside and motioned to the five soldiers accompanying him to take care of the body bag and go to sleep.

"Are you nuts?" yelled Max as soon as Alec entered the Headquarters.

"Hello to you too, Maxie."

"Don't call me Maxie!"

Alec raised an eyebrow, what had he done this time? Max only forbade him to call her Maxie when she was pissed at him, or when they were playfully bickering, but the murderous glint in her eyes told him that it wasn't the latter.

"What seems to be the problem, Max?"

"The problem is that you went after Renfro when you know that you could run into White and his loony-buddies."

"Relax, Max, we didn't."

"That's not the point."

"Perhaps, but we didn't. The chances we encountered White at Renfro's bedside were slim. He had discarded her body in a marsh and before we went there, we checked its activity. We didn't go there blindly. Don't worry, I know my job."

Knowing that she had somewhat overreacted, Max bit her lip, then huffed and turned around, intending to leave. But amused, Alec stopped her and embraced her stiff body.

"Thank you for worrying for my safety, Maxie, but you don't need to," he murmured into her ear.

"As if!"

"Go to sleep, Max."

"I'm not tired."

"You never are. But it's quiet here. Why don't you go and find your place, and dare say, maybe relax a bit."

"And where is that supposed to be?"

"Blondie?" Alec turned towards the blond that was beside CB, leisurely filling tables on her computer.

"Yes, Alec?"

"Where did you put Max?"

"Building D, fourth floor, apartment 46, with Biggs, Sable and yourself."

"Together? Why did you do that?"

"Following the orders Lydecker and you gave me. Regroup units in the same living area, and couples in the same apartments."

"We're not a couple, neither are Biggs and Sable."

Blondie snorted and CB looked everywhere but at their suddenly flushed and tensed COs.

"Blondie?!"

"The orders were clear."

"In this case, it's your definition of couple that isn't."

"Whatever you say, Alec. But it's done, now. You two will be sharing a bedroom. Unless you want to sleep with Biggs?

The face Alec made was eloquent enough that he didn't need to express what he thought about this alternative.

"Besides, it's not like you are allergic to each other or anything; you did sleep in the same cell weeks before we had to. If that's not what couples do, I…"

"Blondie?... Shut up."

Grabbing Max's arm, Alec led her to their office.

"You have to know that I've got nothing to do with that, Max. It's all Blondie's doing. I swear."

Max chuckled; she truly liked to see her best friend embarrassed this way, walking barefoot on pins and needles.

"It's okay, Alec. I don't see any problem with our sleeping arrangements. Well, sharing a dorm with Sable and Biggs isn't something I wanted to experience, but Sable's next heat is due in less than a month, maybe this time, she would stop being so pigheaded and mate with the poor guy."

"She's your friend and you wish her such a horrid fate," joked Alec.

"Well, they will end together anyway, why not shorten our sufferings?"

"Maybe they're not ready, Max."

"Maybe. But I hope for our sake they will."

"Are you sure you want to hear them going at it like bunnies every night?"

"Heck, no!"

"Well, be careful what you wish for… It's late, Max, you seriously should go to bed."

"Will you be long?"

"Till Tennessee or Freya relieves me. They should arrive soon now."

"Okay, see you."

With that, Max left, leaving Alec wishing Tennessee or Freya would hurry the fuck up.

††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

A week had passed, and their old facility was still standing, even if they had had the proof that Renfro had talked when twenty Familiars came and took a gander at what had been their home for all their life. All the teams had made it back to the new base, more or less in the imparted time. Practically every team had passed the entrances before the sun rose, three had done it in the following hour and only one had been reported late, when, due to a close call with a suspicious sector patrol, they had had to hide for a while before being able to go through the sewers.

No other facility had been attacked so far and every soldier sent in away mission before his base was attacked had returned. With 669 heads from the Seattle facility (all series accounted), the ten from Wyoming and the three small hundreds from Vermont, they were almost 1000 soldiers (or future soldiers) in TC, and that meant thousand of mouths to feed, bodies to train and minds to satisfy. The task was next to impossible. They had instated turns, every X5 had to spend a certain amount of hours working for the base instead, or in addition, to their usual training. They needed people in the kitchen, the laundry, the armory, the garages, etc. They also had to try and fix what could be, there wasn't one building that didn't need plumbing or electricity work, fresh paint, new windowpanes, and so and so. The work done the first days after the Committee's authorization had been focused on the safety of the new base; they had had to clear TC from all his previous inhabitants, secure the underground entrances and reinforce their bounds. Now they had to deal with the rest and that wasn't easy.

But on the bright side, soldiers showed what they liked and were fitter to do, and quickly groups were formed, heterogeneous groups mixing transhumans and X-series from different facilities and working well together. CB ruled the communication center with a nomalie named Dix. Bull partnered with Teddy, a transhuman female with bear DNA, created to extreme long mission in cold and inhospitable land, her three 'brothers' and four Vermont X5s. Together, they tried to restore the half collapsed gymnasium they had found in the middle of TC. Bee was the mess chef with Remy, a gourmand mouse-faced nomalie. And those were only the tip of the iceberg.

At 6 in the morning, in a briefing room of HQ, units 8 and 10 were gathered as per Lydecker's orders and Alec was exposing them today's task.

"Till today, ordinaries around only heard rumors about the new purpose of TC; they vaguely know that army is in charge, since they saw our military trucks and hummers enter, but that's all. From now on, they can't have any doubt anymore. We're going to have new fences and barbed wires, obvious security cameras, checkpoint at our gates and soldiers patrolling. Of course, only the X5's and oldest X6's could be seen there. The necessary materials came yesterday and today, unfortunately for us, we have been detailed to install the new fences. So, soldiers, pick your fatigues and rejoin me at the main gate. We have a tight schedule to follow. The colonel wants the South face secure tonight. Let's move."

The soldiers rushed outside, many of them were dressed in casual clothes, which they had to change. On their way out, they saw Aglae and her transhuman unit dressing in some white impermeable plastic suits with assorted plastic helmet. They were a small unit of ten extremely strong soldiers, able to build a safe cantonment in a minimum of time, regardless of the environment and the weather conditions. They also had a weird face, thanks to their beaver and mole DNA, and since they were going to work on ordinaries' view – their task was to clean the perimeter from all its trash –, they had to disguise themselves and the anti-radiation suit was perfect for it.

Quickly the soldiers started to work, and to work efficaciously. Lydecker would be pleased; it looked like the South face would be secure on time. It was a hot day, summer had well and truly arrived, and some male X5's were working shirtless. Many of the curious pedestrians and neighbors, who had stopped nearby to watch the construction process, didn't even try to conceal their staring and awoken interest. A confident woman strode her way towards Sun, brazenly ogling his chest.

"Hey, gorgeous, are you new here?"

"Ma'am, you need to step back, you're on a military compound."

"Am I? Oh, all right," she took two steps back and stopped, "am I still?"

"Yes, ma'am. You need to move over the painted line on the ground."

His shirt, forcefully thrown at him, hit Sun on his shoulder. Seeing Foxy, fuming with her arms crossed in front of her, he quickly put it back on. The woman pouted and glared at the redheaded soldier, who gave her a cold and creepy glare of her own in return. The exchange hadn't of course escaped Max's attention, who quickly assessed the situation: ten shirtless X5s, seven of them in couple with their partner nearby, and a lot more of ordinaries watching them show their six-pack abs and drooling.

"Soldiers, put your shirts on!" she barked. "You're not here to give the civilians a show."

The guys quickly obeyed and the others relaxed. Only Os seemed to find extremely difficult to correctly put his shirt on, seeing as he kept putting it on backside front, and, then remove it to try and fail again. Of course, between each attempt, he made sure to flex his muscles, and the women watching him in rapture, fanned themselves.

"OS!" Max barked in a harsher voice. "Put this shirt back on immediately! Or should I report your un-soldier behavior to the Colonel?"

Immediately, his shirt was back in place and the blond man stood at attention, watching uneasily, as his SIC strode towards him.

"I'm sorry, Max," he whispered.

"You should be!" Max's voice was still stern, but her eyes were twinkling, and she added only for the transgenic to hear. "The third man on the left is drooling and looking at you like you're his personal God to be worshipped. If I was you, I'll be careful next time I'll leave our fences. I'm pretty sure he has a night full of X-rated fun planned for you."

Os shuddered, made a face and walked away.

"That was mean," said Alec's voice behind Max.

"Maybe, but funny… What does she want now? Is one of the guy naked again?"

The woman who had hit on Sun was now making her way towards the pair, and after a dismissive glance at Max, was undressing Alec with her eyes. She was an Eurasian beauty, with green almond-shaped eyes, long raven dark hair, a killer body and a poised look.

"Ma'am, you need to leave," Max told her in a polite but firm voice.

The woman, who looked no older than them that close, ignored her and smiled at Alec.

"I have been told to return and report here, sir."

"And you would be?"

"X5-533."

"Wyoming?" Alec asked her carefully, having noticed that Max didn't seem to like the girl.

"Vermont, sir!" She gave him another full smile, and Max frowned even more.

"Do you have a proof that you are who you said?"

"My barcode should be back soon. But if you don't believe me, why don't you ask 279, he's my CO?" 533 replied to Max in a deceitfully sweet voice.

"Stay here!" Alec told the woman, and led Max away.

He had no doubt that the girl was an X5, she was the gorgeous kind, extremely confident and had a sharp tongue, but he didn't like her manners nor her tone when she talked to his best friend.

"Why don't you go and find 279?" he asked Max.

Max looked at him, then at the girl who was inspecting her nails, then sighed and nodded.

"Okay." And then she did a totally un-Max thing. She kissed him on the lips.

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

**A/N **: So ? Love ? Hate ? Please review !


End file.
